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HISTORICAL SKETCHES, 



CHIEFLY RELATING TO THE 



EARLY SETTLEMENT OF FRIENDS 



AT 



FALLS, 



IN 



Bucks County, Pennsylvania. 



BY 



G. W. B. 

1882. 



PHILADELPHIA T 

Printing House of John P. Murphy, 
227 South Fifth St. 





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HISTORICAL SKETCHES. 



CHAP. I. 



Among those eminent for virtue, energy, 
religious weight, and usefulness in church and 
state ; who left their dwelling places in old 
ancestral England, and crossing the Atlantic, 
founded their habitations in foreign lands, sur- 
rounded by wilderness aspects, and uncivilized 
aborigines, was Phineas Pemberton ; a goodly 
number of his contemporaries, who, like him- 
self, were primitive settlers of the country 
lying adjacent to the falls of the Delaware 
River, in the south-eastern part of Bucks 
County, Pennsylvania, (a locality recognized 
by the general name of Falls,) were those of 
congenial character, and who witii him, doubt- 
less, were largely inst^mental in shaping the 
local aifairs, and future prospects of the newly 
planted colony, by their wise counsels, their 
upright walking, their diligent industry, their 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



prudent economy, their Christian spirit, and 
religious weight and influence. 

Numerous offices of trust and importance 
were conferred upon Phineas Pemberton in 
the civil and public service of the county and 
province of which he was a resident, and being 
a prominent member of the little community 
with wliich he was surrounded, it may not be 
uninteresting, historically, to refer to an earlier 
period, and as sketched chiefly by himself, 
bring partially into view the standing and 
position of some of the primitive settlers, and 
trace some of the influences and considerations 
which finally resulted in the immigration of a 
band of fifty-tAvo persons from England, ap- 
parently bound together by common interest, 
and looking forward to the same place of de- 
barkation, which the captain of the vessel they 
occupied, promised by contract, should be at a 
satisfactory place in Pennsylvania. 

Phineas, the son of Ralph and Margaret 
Pemberton, was born eleventh month, 31st, 
1649, and in due time was apprenticed to 
John Abraham, a valuable friend, whose re- 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 



sidence was at Manchester, England. Pos- 
sessing energy, fearlessness, and independence 
in a remarkable degree, he, in common with 
many of his brethren of those days, several 
times suffered persecution for conscience sake, 
even while serving as an apprentice. After 
one of these seasons of trial, he wrote a long 
letter to his father, describing the proceedings ; 
this letter has been referred to as portraying 
a " specimen of undaunted bearing, honest 
firmness, and promptness of reply, little to be 
expected in a youth then under age ; ^' it is 
concluded in the following language: "Blessed 
be the Lord God of everlasting goodness, that 
gave me power and dominion over and above 
them all ! I can truly say when he (the pre- 
siding officer) had uttered all his railing and 
bitterness, and all the cruelty that was in him, 
it was no more to me than if he had smiled 
upon me." In addition to other railing words, 
this officer, or justice, as he was called, told 
Phineas that this was his second offense, and 
if he offended again, he would be hanged, and 
that he, himself, would prosecute. 



6 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



Phineas has left a record of the following 
particulars relating to the last visit that he 
ever made to his affectionate master, whose 
precepts and example, and fatherly care, had 
been of so much value to him during the im- 
portant period of his apprenticeship. 

^'The 19th of the 4th month, 1681, being the 
first day of the week, he being then sick, of the 
sickness whereof he in a short time afterwards 
died, 1 went from home early iu the morning 
to visit him thinking, after I had visited him, 
to go to the meeting in the town, (Manchester) 
and I had acquainted him that I intended to 
take my journey toward London in a few days. 
About meeting time, being about to take leave, 
Ralph Ridgway being then present, and ready 
to go with me, he desired us to stay awhile, 
and said to me : I would not have thee go to 
meeting this day, but spend it with me ; for 
thou mayest not have another to spend with 
me; but to enjoy the benefit of a meeting, thou 
mayest have more opportunities. Accordingly 
I stayed, and the friend R. R., for some time, 
and he placed us on each hand of his chair. 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 7 

After a little silence he desired to stand up, 
and, being helped by us, he leaned on our 
shoulders, and spoke forth in a living spring 
of life, of the loving kindness of the Lord unto 
him, and how it had been extended, and was 
stretched out, and continued still unto him ; 
and also, how he had walked and spent his 
days in his fear ; and of his assurance of his 
favors and blessings ; and of his willingness to 
receive his dissolution, that he might arrive at 
that long desired haven of rest. And although 
he was under great weakness of body, yet, he 
w^as so filled with life, that he livingly spoke 
forth his words as when in his strength, to the 
penetrating, and piercing, and tendering of my 
spirit." 

Phineas relates the following pleasing in- 
cident respecting his first acquaintance with 
Phebe Harrison, which took place in 1669, 
and whom he afterwards married. " Phebe, 
with her mother, as they were going into Che- 
shire, called at my master's shop, but I knew 
them not ; she being about uine years of age, 
said to her mother, (having some cherries in 



8 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

her apron, ) I have a mind to give one of 
these young men some cherries ; her mother 
said, then give to both. She said, no ; I will 
but give to one: and through the crowd of 
people that then stood before the counter, she 
pressed, holding out her hand wdth cherries 
for me, before I was well aware, and I admired 
that a child I knew not, should offer me such 
kindness; but on inquiring, remembered that 
I had heard her name; and retaliated her 
kindness at the same time with a paper of 
brown candy." 

Time passed on, and the friendship and at- 
tachment existing between Phineas and Phebe 
still progressing, it resulted in marriage en- 
gagement, and, eventually, in their marriage. 
A copy of the certificate appertaining to the oc- 
casion, from the records of Hardshaw Monthly 
Meeting, exhibits the simplicity, language and 
order of those primitive times ; and it is pro- 
bable that the same peculiarities which charac- 
terized those worthies, Boulton and its vicinity, 
were carried to America by the noble band that 
immigrated from thence, and settling within the 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 9 

borders of what was afterward Falls Monthly 
Meeting, were instrumental in disseminating 
their principles and peculiarities around them. 

In relation to the ceremonial proceeding 
which terminated in its accomplishment on 
the first day of the eleventh month, (repre- 
sented as being called January,) 1676, Phineas 
writes: ''We joined together in marriage be- 
fore many witnesses, and Jesus was there. It 
was solemnized in the heart melting and ten- 
dering power of Grod ; also many were wit- 
nesses thereof, departing thence with a sense 
of the weighty savor of life, which proceeded 
from the fountain thereof, even the Son of 
€rod; and it rested upon their spirits, to the 
great refreshment of many, as the distilled 
showers upon the tender grass." 

From the overflowings of a grateful heart, 
Phineas, in after years, thus wrote of their 
union. '' In this, our weighty undertaking, 
we had our eye unto the Lord, and He had 
regard unto us ; He honored us with his pre- 
sence, and hath been our support and defense 
through all difficulties, even to this present 



10 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

clay. We will render and give to him our 
hearts, and we shall then be enabled to offer 
up the oifering of praise and thanksgiving 
acceptably to Him, who is over all, and above 
all, is worthy, worthy thereof, saith my soul^ 
for ever and ever." 

The following extract is from a letter writ- 
ten bv Phineas Pemberton to his Avife the 
year before her decease : "I am thine in the 
power of that endeared love which the power 
of death cannot break. The root lies hid by 
the hand of Divine Providence, until the warm 
rays again prevail ; and then it shoots forth in 
tender buds, and is clothed with its wonted 
beauty and loveliness. So will seasons con- 
tinue, until we shall be transported to that 
region, wdiere there shall be no more such 
winters and wrestlings.'^ 

There is an interesting feature in the history 
of Phineas Pemberton and his friends of Boul- 
ton, and those parts. They were remarkable 
for their courage and constancy in braving the 
storm of persecution y and yet remarkable for 
their tenderness of heart, and as an evidence 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 11 

of their sensibility and tenderness of feeling, 
the following beautiful little sketch of Ann, 
the eldest daughter of Phineas and Phebe, is 
inserted : 

''The first child born to this loving pair was 
named Ann, and appears to have been as 
interesting and lovely as her mother. When 
about four years of age, her health failed, and 
she felt that death Avould soon take her from 
her dear parents and friends. That valuable 
minister, Rodger Longworth, being about to 
depart upon a religious visit to Germany, this 
little girl who loved him greatly, when bid- 
ding him farewell, said she must never see 
him again, and so it proved ; for her illness 
soon increased upon her, and meekly and 
gently as if going to sleep, the beautiful clay 
came to a perfect rest ; as the spirit departed 
to the God who gave it. Her grandfather 
Harrison thus writes of her : Most sweetly 
methinks she yet liveth. I think some hun- 
dreds came to see her as she lay, after she was 
departed ; some bowing and kissing her ; and 
many broke forth and fell a weeping. She lay 



12 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES 

as if she had been in a sound sleep, with a 
fresh and lively countenance. The remem- 
brance of it melts my heart." 

Our friends were lovers of peace and quiet- 
ness, and, doubtless, their patience was often 
sorely tried. The malice of some of the 
Priests, the tyrannical dispositions of men in 
power, and the cruelty and annoyance mani- 
fested by many in the more humble w^alks of 
life, produced great interruptions and unset- 
tlement in their outward atfairs, as well as 
abridgment of liberty, and suifering of body. 
It is no marvel that the frequent trials to 
which this peace-loving people were subjected^ 
in the form of imprisonments, fines, levies, 
distresses, impositions, and ill-treatment in a 
variety of ways, in the operation of unright- 
eous laws, administered by unrelenting offi- 
cials, should loosen their hold upon the land 
of their nativity, and interest their minds in 
a country where civil and religious liberty 
were to be respected. 

In the year 1681, William Penn obtained 
the grant of the province of Pennsylvania, 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 13. 



and made preparations to found a colony 
there upon what he believed to be true Chris- 
tian principles, and some of our fi^iends deter- 
mined to adopt this land of promise as their 
future home. We cannot suppose that this 
resolution was matured in their own will and 
wisdom, they were too sensible of their de- 
pendence upon Divine Providence to proceed 
in a measure of such importance, without 
feeling an evidence of Divine permission or 
approval. But w^e find that the prospect of 
removing to Pennsylvania, gradually became 
brighter and brighter, until at length they 
resolved to remove thither, and made prepa- 
rations accordingly. 

It is said that the friends of these immigrants 
to the western hemisphere, were very loth to 
part with them, for their upright conduct, and 
kind and hospitable manner, together with 
the ties of consanguinity, and common faith, 
had largely endeared them to their friends, 
and also to many of their neighbors. In re- 
ference thereto, James Harrison thus writes : 
'' Love in people appears more than ever ; 



14 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

some argue against our going ; others declare 
their trouble, and say that they are sorry ; 
and some cry when the}^ think of our going.'' 
It is further stated, that according to the cus- 
tom and order of the society, Friends gave 
them a certificate; and it has been represented 
as being '' most tender, full and large." 

Having embarked on board of the ship, 
^'Submission," Captain James Settle, then lying 
at Liverpool, they bid adieu to their native 
land, and set sail for America on the fifth of 
the seventh month, 1682. Their company con- 
sisted of fifty-two persons, among whom were 
Ralph Pemberton, Phineas Pemberton, Phebe 
his wife, Abigail and Joseph their infant chil- 
dren, Agnes Harrison, James Harrison, Anne 
his wife, Robert Bond, and Lydia Wharmby. 
The terms agreed upon between the passengers 
and captain were these : he was to receive four 
pounds two shillings per head for every one 
twelve years of age and upward, and two 
pounds two shillings for every one under 
twelve, and thirty shillings per ton for their 
goods, and was to proceed with the ship to the 



OF FKIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 15 



*' Delaware River, or elsewhere in Pennsyl- 
vania, to the best conveniency of freighters." 

At the distant period of time, when this in- 
teresting band of emigrants to a foreign and 
distant land, turned their backs on England^ 
and committed themselves to the perils of the 
turbulent and trackless ocean, a voyage to 
America was a verv formidable undertakino\ 
Vessels were imperfect, and navigators un- 
skillful, and the voyage tedious and dangerous. 
But they knew in whom they trusted, and it is 
reasonable to suppose that many of them re- 
signed themselves in faith, to the mercy and 
protection of that power that could control 
the winds and the waves, and enable them to 
reach their destined port in safety ; or, if more 
consistent with the Divine will, require their 
lives, and conduct their souls to a better in- 
heritance, the haven of everlasting peace and 
rest. 



16 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



CHAP. II. 

In violation of the contract between Captain 
Settle and his passengers, he sailed with his 
shij), '^Submission," for Maryland, instead of 
Pennsylvania, encountered a severe storm at 
sea, and arrived in the Pautuxent RiAer on 
the 30th of eighth month, 1682, disembarking 
his passengers, and unlading their goods at 
Choptank. This dishonest conduct of the 
Captain was a serious disadvantage to our 
friends, and detained them several months 
from their place of destination, which was 
near the falls of the Delaware in Pennsyl- 
vania. James Harrison and Phineas Pem- 
berton, leaving their families at the house of 
William Dickenson, travelled overland by way 
of Xew Castle to the place where Philadel- 
phia now stands. At IN'ew Castle, they had 
lioped for an interview with William Penn 
who had arri^ ed on the 24th of the eighth 
month, previous ; but they did not succeed at 
that time in obtaining any intercourse with 



OF FKIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 17 

liim, he being absent in JN'ew York. Phila- 
delphia was not yet founded; its site was a 
wilderness, and they could procure no enter- 
tainment for their horses ; and after spancel- 
ling them, and turning them out in the woods, 
availed themselves of such accommodations as 
they carried with them, and were, otherwise, 
obtainable. The next morning the horses 
could not be found, and after two days' search- 
ing for them in vain, they were abandoned. 
In this dilemma the travellers concluded to 
take boat and proceed up the Delaware River. 
The result of this expedition is thus recorded : 
^' William Yardley, an uncle to Phineas Pem- 
berton, had arrived a few weeks before him^ 
and had taken up land at the Falls, where 
he commenced the erection of a habitation. 
On the banks of the Delaware, opposite to 
Orclean's Island, Phineas determined to settle^ 
and purchased a tract of three hundred acres 
of land which he called '' Grrove Place." As 
he and his father-in-law were returning from 
their tour of investigation, the latter, having 
been chosen a member of the Assembly, and 



18 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

speaker of the House of Provincial Repre- 
sentatives, remained at Chester, before called 
Upland. Here the lirst Greneral Assembly 
met, in the month called December, William 
Penn being President. The sessions continued 
three days, in which about sfxty laws or acts 
were passed in due form." The circumstance 
of landing in Maryland, instead of a conve- 
nient place on the River Delaware, subjected 
Phineas Pemberton and company to a tedious 
and annoying transportation of themselves 
and movables to the Falls ; wliich was not 
accomj)lished until the second month, 1683. 
Phineas, with his family, pending the erection 
of a dwelling upon his own land, abode at the 
house of Lj^onel Brittain, a friend who had 
settled earlier at the Falls. On a very old 
map of the locality, James Harrison's name is 
indorsed upon a plot representing a tract of 
land adjoining that of Phineas Pemberton. 

Among those eminent for piety and useful- 
ness — who received the truth in the love of it, 
in the revival of primitive Christianity in its 
ancient purity ; in the dawning of a brighter 



or FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 19 



day, after a long night of apostacy ; a day 
of renewed breaking forth of gospel light 
and power — was James Harrison; concerning 
whom, two of his contemporaries, William 
Yardley and Phineas Pemberton, put forth 
the following testimony : " That the righteous 
may not be buried in oblivion, we give forth 
this testimony concerning our well-beloved 
friend James Harrison, who Avas born at 
Kendal in Westmorland ; and in the break- 
ing forth of truth in those parts, he was early 
convinced thereof, and, in a short time after, 
came forth in a public testimony for the same. 
His ministry was not in the wisdom of this 
world, but in the demonstration of the spirit 
and power of God, by which many were con- 
vinced, the serpent's head was broken, the 
wisdom of the flesh confounded, and several 
came forth in a living testimony for God, who 
were begotten to the Lord by him, and still 
remain seals to his ministry. As he was in- 
strumental in turning many to God, so he was 
helpful in the establishing such as were con- 
verted, being a good pattern, as well in con- 



20 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

versation as in doctrine, walking uprightly a& 
in the daytime, being bold and valiant for 
the truth, in opposing its enemies, whether 
professors or profane, though they often raged 
sore against him, so that his sufferings were 
very great, both by imprisonment and spoil 
of goods ; yet, he always with great courage 
kept his ground against all those that rose 
up against him, for truth's sake, which was of 
more worth to him than all outward enjoy- 
ments. In the year 1682 he removed with 
his family into Pennsylvania, and as his testi- 
mony was in the power of Grod when in the 
land of his nativity, so it was when here, he 
being likewise serviceable many ways. And 
though he had great concerns in this world, 
yet he earnestly labored to keep a conscience 
void of offense, being a man of peaceable 
spirit, and the Lord's power kept him a sweet 
savor to the end. He bore his sickness with 
much patience, though often greatly bowed 
down therewith, to the time of his departure, 
laying down his head in peace, and passing 
away in much stillness. His removal being 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 21 

our loss, but his gain, for, blessed are the dead 
who die in the Lord, they shall rest from their 
labors, and their works do follow them." 

James Harrison suffered much in his native 
land, in support of the doctrines and testimo- 
nies he felt bound to uphold- and defend ; and 
his fidelity to his Divine Master, and zealous- 
ness in his cause, led to his imprisonment in 
the years 1660, '61, '63, '64, '65 and '66. The 
cup of suifering- arising fi^om the persecution 
of the times, was often meted out to him, and 
not unfrequently to his wife, Avho appears to 
have been his truly sympathizing friend, a 
faithful partaker of his joys and sorrows, a 
mother in our Israel, and a prominent helper 
in the society of which she was a member. Of 
her, Phineas Pemberton thus writes : " In all 
the before-mentioned sufferings, his wife, that 
worthy matron, was not dejected or cast down, 
but went through all with a cheerful spirit, 
having her aim aiid eye upon that lot of 
inheritance, whose builder and maker is 
God, and is beyond the reach of persecution. 
Whether he was in bonds or at liberty, in suf- 



22 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

ferings or out of suiferings, always managing 
his and her own business and herself, with 
great prudence and dexterity ; taking delight, 
and making it her business, how to spend her 
days in the service of truth, and the serving 
of its friends ; behaving herself in such an 
even frame and temper of spirit, to all per- 
sons and at all times, that she was greatly 
beloved by friends, and enemies scarce daring 
to come nigh, her conduct was so prudent." 

William Yardley appears to have been a 
friend laro'elv gifted for the administration of 
the discipline, as well as an eminent minister 
in the Society of Friends : the early records of 
Falls Monthly Meeting, give evidence of his 
usefulness in the affairs of the Church, and 
the high estimation in which his friends held 
him ; a full share of the meeting business 
appears to have fallen to his lot, which it is 
reasonable to suppose, he transacted with fidel- 
ity and sound judgment, as became a pillar 
in the Church, and a faithful guardian of 
the monthly meeting in its infant state ; he 
being one of its originators, among whom his 



OF friejN^ds in bucks county. 23 

name stands first. He migrated to x\merica 
in the fiftieth year of his age, and, doubtless, 
the experience, counsel and fatherly care of such 
a friend, were of great value to those among 
whom his lot was cast, and being a friend of 
superior judgment, was eminently calculated 
to dispense that which was comfortable, and 
that which was profitable around him. Hav- 
ing, in his youth, chosen that good part which 
was never taken away from him, and being 
favored to partake largely of Divine qualifica- 
tions and favors, he did not put his light 
under a bushel, nor hide his talent in the 
earth, but labored as ability was extended, for 
the present and eternal welfare of his fellow 
man ; first, in England, the land of his na- 
tivity, and place of his residence for near half 
a century, and, where it is said, '' he received 
the truth with a ready mind and gladness of 
heart, and thought nothing too dear to part 
with for it,'' and where he labored abundantly, 
being zealous for the prosperity of Zion, and 
the enlargement of her borders. And after 
his migration to America, where his services 



24 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES 

were so eminently useful, as a light shining 
in a wilderness land he still went about doing 
good, proving himself an able minister of the 
gospel, and a faithful watchman of Zion's. 
walls ; zealously concerned to keep the camp 
free from defilement, whether of a spiritual 
or moral character, and a pleading companion 
in social life. The influence of such a friend 
was of great value when the foundations of 
society were being laid in the wilds of 
America. 

It is pleasing to muse upon a picture such 
as this, upon such an example of faithfulness^ 
of uprightness, of devotedness to the welfare 
of the Church, and the good of mankind gene- 
rally. And it is pleasing to turn from the 
blood-stained history of most of the other colo- 
nies of America, and dwell upon the peaceable 
and righteous civil and religious policy advo- 
cated by William Yardley, and other kindred 
spirits of his day. These were stars of hea- 
venly lustre ; not as the stars of some of the 
other colonies, that attained an earthly bright- 
ness bv famous deeds of blood ; our worthies 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 25 



did not seek to advance the Redeemer's king- 
dom, nor to prove the eificacy of Gospel prin- 
ciples, nor to promote the welfare of their 
fellow man, in that way ; but the blessings of 
peace and prosperity generally accompanied 
them in their civil and religious concerns ; a 
kind Providence was evidently 'round about 
them to preserve and protect ; the firey spirit 
of the red man was held in subjection, and his 
affections were won by the irresistible power 
of Christian love. And this friendship was 
not of momentary duration ; it was not as an 
empty bubble, or a misty vapor, dissolving in 
air., and leaving no traces of its existence ; but 
its permanency has been transmitted from sire 
to son, and is coeval Avith the lapse of time from 
that day to this. And this friendship was 
useful and comforting to both parties, and 
proved, in measure, that our friends had built 
upon the right foundation — ''by their fruits ye 
shall know them.'' 

William Biles, a co-temporary, and much 
esteemed friend of the immigrants who were 
primitive settlers about the Falls of the Dela- 



26 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

ware, was an active, able, and early supporter 
of the civil government founded by William 
Penn, in the Province of Pennsylvania. He 
was one of the first delegates chosen to repre- 
sent the inhabitants of Bucks County, in the 
Provincial Assembly, and a share in its im- 
portant concerns was frequently confided to 
him in subsequent years. Nor was he less 
skillful in Church government: the ancient 
records of Falls Monthly Meeting, show him 
to have been instrumental in its first establish- 
ment, and largely concerned in the transaction 
of its business, the first of the monthly meet- 
ings being held at his house. It would -be 
difficult at this distant day to fix upon the 
precise period when William Biles first settled 
at the Falls, or from whence he came, as there 
does not appear to be any record handed down 
to us from which such information might be 
gathered; but judging from the trust and 
confidence in him reposed, both in civil and 
church government, it is evident that he was 
a man of no common character. There is a 
large brick dwelling, of ancient date, erected 



OF FRIEISTDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 27 



on the west bank of what is generally called 
Biles Creek, being a portion of the Delaware 
River which circumscribes the western and 
southern borders of the fertile Island bearing 
the name of Biles ; this house has been repre- 
sented by tradition, and from the initials in- 
scribed upon it, as the homestead of William 
Biles ; but it, probably, was the second house 
he had erected on the same site. There is a 
large and fertile farm appended to this ancient 
habitation, and, upon a portion thereof, until, 
comparatively speaking, recent times, was 
pointed out a burial ground containing the 
remains of slaves, which is now obliterated. 
It, manifestly, would be in vain to undertake 
to disguise the assumption, that there were 
those in fellowship with friends, among the 
early settlers at the Falls, who held slaves; 
but be it also said of them that the evil of 
slavery was early recognized, and the system 
abandoned. 

William Darke, Lyonel Brittain and Wil- 
liam Beaks were also of the number who were 
instrumental in the first establishment of 



^ HISTOKICAL ACCOUNT 

Falls Monthly Meeting, and its records are 
evidence of their activity and usefulness in 
the transaction of its business. Of their his- 
tory but little is now known ; they, probably, 
were drawn hither by the attractions of civil 
and religious liberty, where they might pub- 
licly worship, maintain their peculiarities, and 
support all their principles, unmolested by 
mobs, and rude and unfeeling Officials of 
Grovernment; the confiscation of property, and 
tedious and suifering imprisonment, which 
generally followed the faithful support of 
Friend's doctrines and testimonies in England 
in those days. 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 29 



CHAP. III. 

Falls Monthly Meeting of Friends was 
organized in the third month, 1683, and its 
sessions have been continued through a space 
of time amounting to within a foAv months of 
two hundred years. The first Book of Records 
contains the minutes of the meeting for about 
half a century ; the lano:uaQ:e exhibits the 
abbreviations and peculiarities of the old 
English style, and the minutes, for years, are 
recorded in the handwriting of Phineas Pem- 
berton. The first page of this Book of Records 
contains the following title: ''A record of the 
proceedings of the Men's Monthly Meeting, 
held near the Falls of the Delaware, in the 
County of Bucks, and Province of Pennsyl- 
vania," under which the following passages of 
Scripture are written : 

" Brethren, if any of you do err from the 
truth, and one convert him, let him know that 
he which converteth a sinner fi^om the error of 
his way shall save a soul from death, and shall 



30 HISTORICAL, SKETCHES 

hide a multitude of sins. James, 5th Chap. 

19, 20th VERSE. 

''Them that sin rebuke before all, that others 
also may fear. I Tim., 5th Chap., 20th verse. 

" A man that is a heretic, after the first and 
second admonition reject, knowing that he that 
is such, is subverted, and sinneth, being con- 
demned of himself. Titus, 3d Chap. 10, 11th 

VERSE. 

'' For if a man know not how to rule his own 
house, how shall he take care of the Church of 
God. Tim., 3d Chap., 5th verse." 

On the succeeding page appears a record of 
the proceedings of the first Falls Monthly 
Meeting; it exhibits reasons why it was set 
up, and describes other incidents relating to 
its organization, being as follows : 

'^ At a meeting at William Biles' house, the 
2d day of the third month, 1683, then held to 
wait upon the Lord for his wisdom, to hear 
what should be oifered, in order to inspect into 
the affairs of the Church, that all things might 
be kept therein sweet and savory to the Lord, 
and by our care over the Church, helpful in 



OF FEIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 31 

the work of God, and we, w^hose names follow, 
being present, thought it fit and necessary that 
a monthly meeting should be set up of both 
men and women Friends, and that this meeting 
to be the first of the men's meetings after 
our arrival in these parts. William Yardley, 
James Harrison, Phineas Pemberton, William 
Biles, William Darke, Lyonel Brittain, Wil- 
liam Beakes." 

The monthly meeting being thus organized 
and prepared to proceed to business, but one 
subject appears to have claimed its attention. 
A member being disposed to take the usual 
preliminary steps toward proceeding in mar- 
riage, had laid his intentions before Burlington 
Monthly Meeting, where Falls Friends were 
represented previous to the establishment of 
their own ; but it being out of his power at 
that time to produce a certificate of member- 
ship from England, Friends of Burlington 
were unwilling to grant permission for further 
proceeding until greater clearness appeared. 
The said intentions were now proposed in this 
first monthly meeting at the Falls, but no 



32 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

certificate of membership being yet produced, 
and Friends at Falls not being sufficiently 
informed of the position occupied by Burling- 
ton Meeting in relation to its proceeding 
in the case, obstructions were recognized. Falls 
Friends appear to have been veiy desirous that 
this marriage should not take place until, as 
they said, way opened with more clearness for 
it : they did not relax labor for the purpose of 
attaining this desirable object, but as faith- 
ful watchmen upon the walls of their Zion, 
they were slow to hazard the reputation of 
their profession, whereby truth might suffer ; 
they therefore, administered this advice to the 
parties, that they should '^wait in patience 
until Friends were satisfied in it." We may, 
therefore, well suppose that these earnest 
advocates of order were much grieved to hear 
that the marriage had been accomplished out 
of the order of society, which information was 
reported to the next monthly meeting, and 
Friends were not backward in placing the prin- 
cipal offender under dealing. An abridged 
narrative of the proceedings appertaining to 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 33 



the case, has been introduced chiefly for the 
purpose of bringing into view the great care- 
fulness of both Falls and Burlington Meet- 
ings, in endeavoring to guard their pro- 
fession against reproach, together with their 
manifestation of effort to establish and to 
sustain the general prevalence of good 
order ; these objects and purposes include the 
information contained in the quaint document 
from Burlington. And although there may- 
be those in this, our da}^, who do not look 
up(jn such departure as among the offences of 
high grade, it is manifest that our prim- 
itive friends at Falls and at Burlington, did 
view this transgression as a matter of grave 
importance, involving the deep, religious con- 
cernment of their pious minds ; they, probably, 
felt bound to be faithful in dealing with all 
grades of transgression. The document from 
Burlington, partly by way of Epistle, and 
partly by way of current proceedings, is as 
follows : 



34 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

'' To our clear friends and brethren in the 
^ monthly meeting for the County of Bucks, 
in Pennsylvania : 

" Dear friends, with love unfeigned in the 
holy covenant of life, do we greet and tenderly 
salute you, blessing God for the holy com- 
munion and felk)wship which he hath gra- 
ciously brought his people into, and doth 
defend and preserve them in, where being 
kept, our greatest care will be for the honor 
of Grod, and the good of his people. Dear 
friends, w^e are comforted concerning many of 
you, being fully assured of your integrity and 
service in the Lord, and are glad our lot has 
fallen so near each other, and do desire that in 
this service and work of God, which he is car- 
rying on here as well as elsewhere, and will 
make glorious in his time, we may be all 
packed together, and knit in that holy bond, 
which the strongest powders of darkness are 
not able to break. 

'^ Dear friends, as to the business of^^ — 

and his friend, we are informed that he has a 
certificate come, and, therefore, our exercise as 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 35 

to that is at an end ; yet, still, we are desirous, 
according to our former intentions, to give you 
a naked serious account. Wherefore, we have 
laid such an injunction on all, of having certi- 
ficates when their marriages were presented, 
that came single and marriageable into this 
country. We had many marriages that came 
before us where little could be certified con- 
cerning the persons, yet earnestly pressing the 
accomplishment of the matter, which became 
a great strait and exercise to honest friends on 
whom God had laid the care of his honor. 
Yet, for a time, in condescension did permit 
such marriages, constantly expressing our- 
selves not satisfied therewith, still desiring-^ 
that care might be taken for the future, that 
things too doubtful and dangerous might not 
be put upon us ; requesting the care and help 
of Friends in England to inform such as come 
over, that they might bring certificates with 
them ; giving notice through our respective 
meetings that it was expected ; also, informing 
all how they might be helped by the monthly 
meeting here in their sending. Yet. notwith- 



36 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

standing it was allowed, and the old practice 
continued and grew amongst us, and the bur- 
then of the upright grew with it, some alleging 
that such and such were passed and why not 
we. So, finding it of that dangerous conse- 
quence, and that it strengthened the wrong, 
and hurt the good, we can say, in the sight of 
God and his people, a necessity was laid upon 
us to do what we did, singly eyeing the glory 
of God, and the advancement of His truth in 
it. So, not doubting tiiat we shall be felt, and 
credited, and strengthened by you herein, we 
subscribe ourselves by order, and on the be- 
half of our men's monthly meeting, the 2d of 
the fifth month, 1683, your friends and breth- 
ren in the love and travails of the truth." 

Samuel Jennings, 
Thomas Budd. 

This specimen of the mode of transacting the 
affairs of the Church in the youthful days of 
Falls Monthly Meeting, is with its accompani- 
ments, a narrative not wholly uninteresting 
in character : an erring brother, slighting the 
counsel of his friends, and persisting in his 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 37 

own will, brought much trouble and distress 
upon himself, and also an abundance of labor 
and solicitude to his friends, extending through 
several months. All doubt as to his member- 
ship was shortly after his marriage removed 
by the arrival of a certificate from England. 
His position and stumbling were treated by 
his friends wdth firmness, but with much 
forbearance, and long continued affectionate 
care and labor, and he was finally brought to 
an humble acknowdedgment of his error, and 
making suitable concessions by condemnation 
thereof, was continued in membership. 

This narrative discloses the carefulness and 
fidelity of some of our predecessors, in the 
cause of order and righteousness ; the friends 
that stood as pillars in the Church in those 
days, were evidently very watchful over the 
purity and consistency of their own lives ; 
and though they were friends of very tender 
feelings, sympathizing with the afflicted and 
relieving the destitute, yet were they zealous 
and uncompromising in testimony against 



38 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

those who continued unyielding in innovation 
upon their established precepts, and what 
they believed to be their gospel order ; the 
offences of transgressors were doubtless a 
grief and a burthen to their Christian feelings, 
but while a reasonable hope of restoration 
remained, they labored diligently and af- 
fectionately with offenders ; not cutting them 
off from the fold where restoration could 
be attained without a compromise of the 
principles of their profession ; but in failure 
of this, their testimony went forth against 
them. And, as might be expected, the fruits 
of the labors of these fathers in our Israel, 
clothed with a Christian spirit, and jealous of 
the honor of truth, were abundant and good. 
Doubtless the Aveight and influence of their 
spirits did, under the divine blessing, operate 
as a hedge of preservation about the young, 
and unbaptized, and unestablished, yet they 
were not exempt from exercises occasionally 
brought upon their pious minds, by the con- 
duct of , offending members ; but these were 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 39 



generally reclaimed, and in the earlier years 
of the existence of Falls Monthly Meeting, 
but few were testified against. 

And, although the document from Bur- 
lino'ton oives evidence that there had been 
some connivance at innovation, and the records 
at Falls are interspersed with cases of de- 
linquency ; have we in this our day made 
great improvement upon the primitive con- 
dition of our society in this country? Are we 
more zealous for the promotion of good order, 
our habits such as are more calculated to 
wean us from the allurements of the world ; to 
make us more sensible of our dependence upon 
Divine Providence for the blessings we en- 
joy, and our hearts more grateful for these 
blessings ? Are our worthies more deeply rooted 
and grounded in the Christian faith ; more 
deeply experienced in the work of vital relig- 
ion ? Are our religious meetings more emi- 
nently owned by Israel's Shepherd, and the 
baptizing influence of His heavenly love and 
power more sensibly felt ; and are our borders 
enlarging at the present time? 



40 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

The Book containing the records of the 
ancient proceedings of Falls Monthly Meeting 
of women Friends, has disappeared. The loss 
of these memorials of primitive usefulness is 
to be regretted ; for mothers in our Israel, as 
well as fathers, were shining lights in those 
days ; mothers endowed with heavenly wisdom 
and clothed with the garment of righteous- 
ness ; watchful of their principles against 
innovation, and of their order against trans- 
gression. The materials for compiling a 
history of those worthy women Friends are 
now scanty, but doubtless there were those 
amongst them whose memorials are on high ; 
and that there shall they be had in everlasting 
remembrance, although the memory of their 
pious lives may not be perpetuated here on 
earth. A knowledge of the proceedings of their 
monthly meeting in its infant state might 
have been instructive in examples of lidelity, 
in the exercise of Christian order, and a more 
extended history of their circumspect lives 
might have been useful in directing the wan- 
derer to the same rock on which thev had 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 41 

built, and in building thereon, found safety; 
vet, notwithstanding this loss of materials, 
there is satisfaction in looking back to those 
primitive times, those days of harmonious 
labor for the welfare of the Church, when 
honest simplicity and purity of purpose were 
so conspicuous in the lives of its guardians, 
shedding a preserving influence as a hedge 
about its honor. It is pleasing to look back 
and believe, that the burthen bearers on whom 
the faithful support of Falls Monthly Meeting 
of Friends early rested, were men and w^omen 
of " clean hands." 



42 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 



CHAP. IV. 

On the 29th of the seventh month, 1683^ 
Thomas Janney, an eminent and much be- 
loved minister, arrived with his family from 
England, and settled among his friends, not 
far from the Falls of the Delaware, in Pennsyl- 
vania, and became an active and useful mem- 
ber of Falls Monthly Meeting, of which the 
records give evidence ; and other accounts 
show him to have been a faithful laborer in 
word and doctrine. He was uncle to Phineas 
Pemberton, and we doubt not but he and his 
family met with a cordial reception from their 
w^arm hearted friends, who ligLd preceded them 
in wdlderness America ; the ties of consangui- 
nity, friendship, and gospel fellowship, all 
combined to render these migrators welcome ; 
many of the partners in exile here met to- 
gether, had nobly borne their testimonies in 
the cause of truth and righteousness in their 
native land, and had suflPered for their faithful- 
ness ; but persecution in measure drove them, 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 43 



and civil and religious liberty wooed them 
across the Atlantic wave ; and it may have 
been the design of Infinite Goodness, not only 
that this suffering people should find relief 
from persecution by emigration, but also that 
the standard of Christianity in its primitive 
purity should be planted in a foreign land. 
Many of the wise and good of that day and 
generation concentrated here, and it is gratify- 
ing to look back and observe that the worthies 
who sustained Falls Monthly Meeting in its 
infancy, were, eminently, men and women of 
religious weight and influence ; and as a bro- 
ther beloved and father in the Church was 
Thomas Janney, concerning whom, Falls 
Monthly Meeting issued the following testi- 
mony after this dedicated servant of Christ 
had finished his course, and, doubtless, was 
gathered to his everlasting rest. " He settled 
with us at his first coming into these parts, 
laboring amongst us in word and doctrine 
divers years. We loved and highly esteemed 
him for his work's sake, being an able minister 
of the gospel, sound in doctrine, endowed with 



44 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

wisdom and ready utterance, and favored with 
openings into the mj^steries of Grod's kingdom. 
He was not forward to offer his gift, having a 
true regard to the giver, who Baid formerly 
' cast the net on the right side of the ship.' 
Therefore, his ' bow abode in strength.' And, 
a^lthough the Lord had furnished him with 
such excellent qualifications, he had so learned 
self denial as not to glory therein; but was 
ready to prefer his friends before himself, and 
give them the right hand of fellowship ; being 
careful to keep the testimony of truth clear on 
:all accounts, saying : ' Those that appear in 
public are doubly bound so to do.' He was of 
a cheerful and peaceable temper, and innocent 
and blameless in life. As the Lord hath be- 
stowed on him a gift in the ministry, beyond 
many of his fellows, so he was careful to im- 
prove it to his honor and the comfort of his peo- 
ple, laboring therein, not only here in Pennsjd- 
vania and JNTew Jersey, but he also visited the 
€hurches several times in IN'ew England, Rhode 
Island, Long Island, and Maryland; and lastly 
he went on that service to Old England, where 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 45 

he finished his course. And, although, our 
loss of him is great, we are satisfied he hath 
his portion among those that 'turn many to 
righteousness, and shine as the stars forever 
and ever.'" 

Thomas Janney died in the year 1696, aged 
sixty-three years. 

In the year 1684, Rodger Longworth arrived 
in Pennsylvania, and took up his abode among 
his friends at or near Pennsbury. This emi- 
nent minister of the gospel had spent much of 
his life in religious service, travelling exten- 
sively by sea and land, visiting various coun- 
tries, and people of varied habits, professions 
and languages. His services in the sacred 
cause he had espoused, appears to have been 
great. His zeal and sense of duty, under the 
Divine* blessing, enabled him to surmount 
many difl&culties and dangers ; and his resig- 
nation to Divine disposal, doubtless, was fol- 
lowed by qualification to endure privation and 
suflfering with Christian resignation and forti- 
tude ; and, doubtless too, as he went forth 



46 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

bearing precious seed, and, at times weeping, 
he was permitted to return rejoicing, bringing 
his sheaves with him, having faithfully per- 
formed the abundant service required at his 
hands. He is mentioned by Joseph Besse, as 
'' one of the public Friends, who, when the 
storm of persecution raged with great violence 
in England, boldly preached the truth, at the 
hazard of all that was dear in this world," 
and it is easy to comprehend that this digni- 
fied and truly devoted servant of Christ, was 
greeted by kindred spirits at Falls, with warm 
feelings of friendship and heartfelt satisfac- 
tion. Rodger Longworth, in his youthful days, 
had been apprenticed to James Harrison, and, 
undoubtedly, the fatherly care and counsel of 
such a friend, was of lasting benefit to the 
young candidate for immortality and eternal 
life, who, heeding the voice of instruction, both 
human and Divine, was constrained to improve 
the talents committed to his trust, his day's 
work keeping pace with the day, and thus he 
became the comfortable companion and co- 
laborer in the work of righteousness, with the 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 47 



Friends among whom his lot was eventually 
cast. From the accomplishment of his last 
religious service abroad, he returned to Falls 
in the third month 1687, where his earthly 
pilgrimage was, not long after, brought to a 
peaceful close, aged about fifty-seven years. 

Robert Bond was an interesting youth whom 
his father had confided to the care and tuition 
of James Harrison ; and it is reasonable to 
suppose that the superintending care of such 
an experienced and loving friend, and his 
pious precepts and instructive example, were 
instrumental in producing a most salutary 
influence upon the short, but virtuous life of 
his dependent, but appreciative ward ; and, 
also, that James, himself, felt richly rewarded 
in his efforts to train this young heir of the 
kingdom of heaven, in the way he should go; 
for he never departed from it, though he lived 
not until he was old. James and his young 
friend were not separated by the removal to 
America ; but the youth being of a delicate 
constitution died in the seventh month, 1684, 
about two years after his arrival in the colony, 



48 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

aged about eighteen years. Phineas Pember- 
ton has left this testimony concerning him : 
^' He was a sober, solid youth ; his deportment 
grave ; having the fear of Grod before his eyes. 
I loved him with a true love." 

William Penn resided for a space of time 
at Falls, in his mansion, which, with its near 
appendages, he called Pennsbury. And al- 
though he probably was never formally a 
member of Falls Monthly Meeting, yet being- 
surrounded by the members thereof, and 
mingling with them in religious and social 
intercourse, it might almost be said that he 
was, virtually, one of them ; and there can be 
but little or no doubt of his leaving the im- 
press of his judicious councils, his fatherly 
care, his wise precepts, his pious labors and 
his instructive example among them. He was 
found amongst the early fruits of the preva- 
lence of that Gospel light and power, which 
prevailed so marvelously and efficaciously in 
the dawn of that gospel day, when, after a 
long night of apostacy, primitive Christianity 
in its purity was revived in England. In the 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 49 

flower of youth ; possessed of natural abilities 
of a superior grade; descended from a popular 
family, with the road to preferment before him ; 
with a prospect of an ample inheritance of 
property, and worldly titles and honors ; he 
turned aside from the allurements of the world, 
and taking up the daily cross, became a de- 
voted follower and servant of the Prince of 
Peace. It was not disappointed ambition; it 
was not satiety of the w^orld ; it was not that 
life had lost its charms ; sorrow and sickness 
had not disappointed his pleasant pictures ; 
and age and infirmities had not warned him of 
the approach of death. It was not this kind 
of influence that operated on his youthful 
mind and wrought this change ; for sacrifice, 
he brought not a lame offering to the altar ; 
but, yielding his heart to the regenerating 
power of Divine Grrace, and growing in grace 
as he grew in years, attained the stature of 
a strong man in spiritual and in temporal 
things; and, with subdued spirit, prostrated 
at the sacred foot-stool, he was brought into a 
willingness to resign gold and silver, houses 



50 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

and lands, honor and preferment; to suffer 
expulsion from his father's house, and to pass 
the prime of his days within prison wallSy 
rather than turn away from Him who hath 
the words of eternal life, and in whose name 
he had set up his banners ; choosing rather to 
suffer affliction with his suffering friends, than 
to enjoy the doubtful pleasures of the world 
for a season. It is reasonable to suppose that 
it was not until after a powerful conviction 
upon his own mind, and the subjection of his 
natural will, that William Penn was brought 
to embrace the tenets of the despised Quakers : 
the allurements of the world on the one hand^ 
were inviting him to partake of its deceptive 
pleasures, while on the other, he saw that the 
path of self-denial, and the way of the daily 
cross, was the straight and narrow way that 
led to everlasting life. This opposite state of 
things,, doubtless, caused many conflicting 
feelings in the mind of a youth, educated 
and nurtured in the maxims and customs of 
the world, scarce yet arrived at the age of 
laanhood, and with abundance to gratify his 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 51 

natural will. There is a strong propensity in 
the youthful mind to delay the accepted time, 
the day of salvation, until a more convenient 
season ; and in view of the magnitude of the 
worldly sacrifice required at his hands, doubt- 
less, such delay was presented in all its plausi- 
bility to his exercised mind, accompanied with 
its allurements and its snares ; but happily 
these temptations did not receive much enter- 
tainment in the purifying process operating in 
bis awakened soul, for he early chose that good 
part which was never taken away from him; 
having put his hand to the plow he looked 
not back ; and being faithful and diligent in 
the performance of his allotted service, became 
a father in our Israel, one of our society's 
ablest defenders, and one of its brightest orna- 
ments. He was an extraordinary man, viewed 
as a minister of the Gospel ; as holding the 
pen of a ready writer ; in the heat of contro- 
versy ; by the fireside of his family ; as a law- 
giver; in his private walks amongst men; as a 
philanthropist; as an administrator of civil 
government; as possessed of fine qualities of 



52 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

head and heart ; and as a testimony bearer 
against wrong. In all these aspects, and 
abundance more, he seemed gifted by Provi- 
dence for the advancement of both the eternal 
and temporal welfare of his fellow man, and 
he manifested much faithfulness in the occu- 
pancy of those gifts. Some of his temptations^ 
doubtless, were peculiar, such as very few of our 
Friends have ever experienced, as they sprung 
from his unusually prominent worldly position 
and connections. He suifered considerably 
from breach of trust, ingratitude, and abuse^ 
yet, through all, was favored to possess an 
humble mind, a purity of purpose, and a for- 
giving spirit. And, although his declining 
years were harrassed by political troubles, and 
pecuniary embarrassments, and his intellect 
was, at times, somewhat clouded by disease^ 
yet there is reason to believe that he never lost 
the savor of immortal life; his sun went down^ 
comparatively speaking, in brightness, and he 
rests from his labors, and his w^orks do follow 
him. 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 53 

Of Naomi Wlialej^ but little is now known, 
except the following notice taken from the 
records of Falls Monthly Meeting, dated the 
1st day of the 5th month, 1685 : " I^aomi 
Whaley hath this day presented to this meet- 
ing, that she hath a mind to travel on Truth's 
account to the northward. Therefore, this 
meeting having weighed the matter, hath con- 
descended that she may take her opportunity, 
and ordered that Phineas Pemberton do draw 
a certificate, and let it be signed by some 
Eriends on the meeting's behalf 



64 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



CHAP. V. 

The following quotations from an account 
written by a member of the Pemberton family, 
about the year 1814, describes some interesting 
incidents ; that part which relates to the 
peaceful termination of the lives of several of 
the worthies who settled early at Falls, is 
particularly interesting; tlie prevalence of the 
disease which swept many from the face of 
the earth, doubtless produced a season of con- 
flict and sore distress ; inasmuch as those who 
retained their health were scarcely sufficient 
in number to administer the needful attentions 
to the sick, but in this afflictive dispensation 
they were not forgotten ; there is evidence 
that a considerable number of those who were 
removed by death, laid down their heads in 
peace, 

'' In the latter end of the year 1685, Phineas 
went to Philadelphia to attend the x\ssembly ; 
and on the 5th of the third month, following^ 
he received a commission from Thomas Loyd. 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 55 

to be Deputy Master of Rolls of Bucks County. 
Having been engaged in erecting a more 
comfortable habitation for his family, he fin- 
ished the same early in the year 1687. On 
the 16th of the 3d month, he records, ''there 
was a great land-flood, and on the 29th, a 
' rupture.' " It is probable that the river over- 
floAved its banks to a great extent ; and on its 
subsiding, it left a vast quantity of vegetable 
matter, which being decomposed in the hot 
sun, the miasma thence exhaled, together 
with an unusual quantity of rain, became the 
cause of much sickness in the neighborhood 
near the river and Falls, and a number of the 
settlers were removed by death. 

'' The first of these in Bucks County was 
Ralph Pemberton, who died on oth month, 
17th, at the age of seventy-seven. He suddenly 
sunk under the disease, having a high fever, 
but remained sensible and cheerful to the last. 
He was buried in a burying-ground, which 
Phineas had laid out on his own land, not far 
from his own house, and near the river Dela- 
ware. It was ten rods square, and was designed 



56 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

for the interment of the members of his family, 
and also for those of his own religious society 
in the neighborhood. 

" Phineas himself, was also taken sick about 
this time, nor did his wdfe and children escape, 
but they all slowly recovered. Agnes Harrison ^ 
who was an aged woman when she came with 
them from England, was the next of the family 
who was removed bv this disease. She de- 
parted in peace on the 6th of the 6th month, 
aged eighty-six years. On the next day, that 
good and eminent man, Rodger Longworth, 
a.lso laid down the body ; the fever was violent, 
yet he bore his last illness wdth much meek- 
ness and patience, and was preserved remark- 
ably still and quiet during his sickness, which 
continued about fourteen days ; he passed 
away like a lamb, leaving behind him a sweet 
remembrance of his virtues and gentleness, 
his fidelity to his (Ireat Master's cause, and his 
zeal to promote righteousness on the earth ; 
and was gathered into that rest prepared for 
the people of Grod. ^' { 

''Several other neighbors were removed by 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 57 



death ; and James Harrison being also seized 
with the prevailing disease, sunk under it, 
and departed this life on the 6th of the 8th 
month. He also was an example of patience 
under suffering, even to the last, and died in a 
state of calmness and Christian composure. 
He was a strenuous advocate of civil and 
religious liberty, having suffered much in his 
native land in the cause of Truth, and his 
character stood high for integrity and religious 
usefulness. The commissions he received from 
the Governor, his friend William Penn, show 
the confidence placed in his talents and 
uprightness of conduct ; many letters from 
the latter, giving minute directions concerning 
the estate at Pennsbury, are yet preserved 
among the papers of the family. 

" The sickness by which these and many 
others were removed, both in Bucks County 
and in New Jersey, raged for a considerable 
time, and was very mortal to aged persons 
and children, and those of delicate constitu- 
tions ; scarcely a family escaped, and sometimes 
none were left well enough to attend the rest- 



58 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

Even in those who recovered, a great pros- 
tration of strength remained for a long time. 
The afflictions of these new settlers, in being 
thus deprived of so many of their friends, can 
be but faintly imagined by those wdio have 
never experienced such mournful dispensations 
of Providence. 

'' In the year 1690, Anne Harrison, the 
mother of Phebe Pemberton, departed this 
life. She left the w^orld with perfect compo- 
sure and resignation. Taking a friend by the 
hand, while on her dying bed, she told him 
she had always been sensible of his love, and 
bade him farewell, concluding with these 
expressions : ' I am satisfied of a resting- 
place.' She also said to her daughter, who 
sat w^eeping by her : ' Be glad thereby,' and 
told her to be rather glad than otherwise on 
her account; for, although it was a trial to 
nature to part with a parent, yet to that j^arent 
the change would be glorious. 

'' On the 3d of the 7th month, 1695, Lydia 
Wharmby, who came from England with the 
family, and probably lived with them as 



OF FRIEXDS IN BUCKS COUXTY. 59 

housekeeper, died, and was buried in the 
family cemetery before mentioned, * at the 
point.' In the next year, Phineas lost his 
amiable wife, the tender companion of his 
pilgrimage over the great deep, and the 
faithful sharer of his joys and sorrows. This 
loss was not without its attendant consolations, 
in the remembrance of her piety and her 
virtues. ' She departed/ as Phineas writes to 
a friend, ' in the like innocent state she hath 
all along lived. After she had declared her 
peace with the Lord, and her satisfaction to 
leave the world, and a testimony of her love 
to me, she caused her children to be called 
(capable to hear her), and exhorted them to 
the fear of the Lord, and duty to me, and in 
some particulars how to regulate tlieir con- 
versation ; and with a kiss took leave of the 
lesser sort: and lastly, a few minutes before 
her departure, she desired me to remember 
her love to several of her friends ; being- 
sensible to the last. Phebe deceased the 30th 
of the 8th month, 1696, at the age of thirty - 
six — just fourteen years after her arrival in 
the Pautuxent River." 



60 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

Phineas continued to give diligent attention 
to his private affairs, and to the administration 
of the many public trusts committed to his 
care ; but in the latter part of the year 1701, 
his health had materially declined, and on the 
first day of the year 1702, he died, aged fifty- 
two years. Samuel Carpenter, in a letter to 
Governor Penn, after describing the preva- 
lence of sickness in town and country, says : 
''Phineas Pemberton died the 1st of 1st month 
last, and will be greatly missed ; having left 
few or none in these parts or the adjacent, like 
him for wisdom and integrity, and a general 
service : and he was a true friend to thee and 
to the Government. It is mattter of sorrow 
when I call to mind and consider, that the 
l)est of our men are taken away, and how 
many are gone, and how few to supply their 
places.". Phineas lost his mother before he 
was six years of age, and such being the fact, 
he owed but little of the correct formation of 
his character to maternal instruction and influ- 
ence ; what amount of care and protection he 
received from paternal guardianship is not 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 61 



now known, it may have been mncli ; but we 
may reasonably suppose, that by the Divine 
blessing upon liis own honest efforts and faith- 
fulness to manifested duty, much of the purity 
of principle, stability of mind, and capacity 
for usefulness, was attained, for which, in after 
life, he became conspicuous. His qualifications 
rendered him a valuable pillar in both church 
and state, his position in both being important. 
The value and usefulness of such a Friend in 
those early colonial days, can scarcely be over- 
estimated. 

The before-quoted member of the Pemberton 
family, further writes : ''In the autumn of 1814, 
one hundred and twelve years from the death 
of this valuable man, (P. P.) I visited the 
burial ground, ' to pay filial attention to its 
decent preservation.' The sensations which 
thrilled my soul, may well be imagined, as I 
approached the spot where my primogenitors, 
had in former days, fixed their habitation. It 
seemed as if the flame of inspiration were 
kindled, and its ardour, for a time, wrapped 
me from the world. 1 bent my steps toward 



HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



the graves, where, many years ago, small slate 
stones had been fixed at their heads, with 
initials indicating the names of their inhabi- 
tants. But time had crumbled several of 
these. AVhat a powerful example of the in- 
stability of earthly memorials was here exhi- 
bited; and what a humiliatino; lesson did these 
mounds pronounce ! I stood on the grave of 
my venerated o-reat o'reat urandfather, and 
reflected that he who had so often wandered 
over the fields near me, who had been guided 
over the troubled ocean by a Divine hand, in 
search of an asylum, was gone forever from 
these scenes ; and his remains were reposing 
beneath me. Evervthino- of him that was 
human was confined to this narrow spot ; his 
beloved wife lay at his side, and the remains of 
many of his dear connections were deposited 
around him. The aifection of his descendants 
had enclosed these by a wall, and here they 
have ever since rested undisturbed. It seemed 
as if I were holding communion with the dead; 
and the objects around me impressing me with 
awe, reminded me that the beings with whom 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 63 

I was in company, did once exist on this ecirth, 
and partook of the joys and sorrows of mor- 
tality. They had fnltilled the dnties of their 
stations, (as the written evidences of their 
piety in my possession bear ample witness,) 
and were, doubtless, gathered by their Lord 
into that eternal rest which has been prepared 
for his people! If they had not, little would it 
avail them now, that for more than a centurv 
their bones have rested in peace, and the 
breath of neglect and desolation has not 
swept over their graves ; that during their 
lives the charms of friendship, and the a aried 
delights of social life were theirs ; and that 
this favored spot of the globe afforded them a 
retreat from heavy persecutions. 

'' Yes, here under the wise policy and mild 
government of the founder of Pennsylvania, 
they found a settlement where they could meet 
together and worship according to the dictates 
of their own conscience, unmolested by tines, 
imprisonments, and vexatious impositions : 
and here, closing their days with gratitude to 
Him who had graciously conducted them 



64 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

through life, they slept in the bosom of their 
Redeemer." 

'' What matters it, that the names of such 
worthies are now remembered no more, or 
called but transiently before the view of 
tenderness, in the hour of converse, or the 
moments of solemn communion. The world 
busy with its present concerns, forgets or cares 
not that these have ever lived ; yet, the state 
of society at this day, may owe much of the 
comforts and improvements and knowledge, 
now enjoyed, to the labors and energies of 
those who are thus unheeded and forgotten. 
But their names are written in the Book of 
Life, and gloriously enrolled in the records of 
eternity ; and when the memory of the proud 
and self-exalted shall have passed away, these 
shall be had in everlasting remembrance." 

'' On coming to the close of the life of Phineas 
Pemberton, I pause a moment, to contemplate 
the great simplicity and integrity of his cha- 
racter. In following him through his various 
early trials and sufTerings for the testimony of 
Truth ; his imprisonments and vexatious treat- 



OF FRIENDS IlSr BUCKS COUNTY. 65 

ment from an ignorant and deluded popu- 
lace ; his migration to this country ; the various 
offices of great trust and importance which he 
held ; we see him acting in one uniform man- 
ner, dictated by a pure conscience, and con- 
ducted by that exalted sense of correct feeling 
w^hich guided him in all his ways. A great 
number of letters addressed to him, are left 
among his papers, which evince the high 
esteem in which he was held b}^ his cotem- 
poraries ; and the events of his life show the 
peculiar favor of Providence towards him, 
making him in many instances, as it were, a 
conspicuous example of the blessings attend- 
ant upon a course of righteousness and humble 
devotion." 



66 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



CHAP. VI. 

We cannot easily ascertain at this day^ 
the precise period when the first settlements 
were made in the sonth-eastern part of Bucks 
County. In the year 1672, in the progress of 
a religious visit to America, George Fox, in 
travellino- throuo'h the wilderness from Shrews- 
bury to Chester, passed along the borders of 
the Delaware from ihe neighborhood of the 
Falls, southward, but saw no white inhabitants. 
He found two deserted log cabins on the site 
of Burlington, in one of which he lodged. 
These habitations, it is said, were erected by 
some Dutchmen, who deserted them in fear of 
the Indians. It is recorded that Lyonel Brit- 
tain was settled at Falls two or three years 
previous to the second month, 1683, and it is 
probable that his friends, William Biles, 
William Darke and William Beaks, were set- 
tlers at the same time. 

West Jersey was purchased by Friends 
about the vear 1676 ; and in the year 1677, it 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 67 

is stated by Phineas Pemberton, that '' divers 
proprietors and adventurers came over to these 
parts, and settled themselves and families." 
It is probable that a large proportion of this 
immigration were Friends, and that some of 
them, at a little later period, found their way 
to the Falls Country, and established them- 
selves and families there. After members of 
the Societ}^ of Friends became interested in 
West Jersey, their increase in those parts was 
rapid ; meetings were soon established ; first, 
at Salem, and shortly after at Burlington, of 
which monthly meeting Falls Friends were, 
for a time, members. The primitive settlers 
of these favored sections of our country, of 
course, experienced the painful pressure of 
pioneer life, but as time progressed, the wilder- 
ness and heretofore uncultivated soil presented 
quite a different aspect ; much of it becoming 
as a fruitful field, which, figuratively speaking, 
rejoiced and blossomed as the rose. Industry 
and economy were generally rewarded with a 
sufficiency to supply real wants, but where the 
outward bread was lacking, the deficiency was 



68 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

often supplied from the abundance of others ; 
mid doubtless thanksgiving from grateful 
hearts, ascended to the Father of mercies for 
his blessings and favors, and prayers for a 
continuance-of his preserving care and regard. 
Many of this people appear to have been ex- 
tremely sensible of their dependence upon 
Him in whom they lived, and moved, and had 
their being ; and it is not marvelous that He 
watched over them in life and in death. 

And there were those w^ho founded their 
habitations in solitary places, but, unlike the 
frightened Dutchmen, the Indians w^ere no 
terror to them ; they rejected the use of carnal 
weapons, and trusted not in the arm of flesh 
for protection, but being armed with the sword 
of the spirit, the inflammable propensities of the 
Ted man gave way before them, and the toma- 
hawk became harmless in his hand ; and they 
that were terrible to those of warlike princi- 
ples, were the comfortable friends of the 
Friends of peace. And here was presented a 
beautiful picture of concord and harmony; 
something similar to the lying down of the 



4 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 69 

Lion and the Lamb together, and there was 
none to nicike afraid. 

Phineas and Phebe Pernberton had nine 
children, several of whom died yonng. Abigail 
married Stephen Jenkins, and settled in Ab- 
ington Township, then Philadelphia County. 
She became serious and thoughtful, and some- 
times acceptably spoke in religious meetings. 
Priscilla married Isaac Waterman, and settled 
near Holmesburg. Israel, before he attained 
the age of manhood, removed to Philadelphia, 
and after serving apprenticeship with Samuel 
Carpenter, became established there. It is re- 
corded of him that his liberal and prudent 
management '' gained him the confidence and 
respect of his fellow^ citizens, who placed him 
in divers high and honorable offices ; among 
w^hich may be noticed his being nineteen suc- 
cessive years a member of the General Assem- 
bly of Pennsylvania. Nor were his services 
confined to secular aifairs; he also became con- 
spicuously useful in the religious concerns of 
the society of which he was a member. His 
house was the general resort of Friends who 



70 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 

came from Europe in the service of the Grospel, 
and he entertained them with much hospitality 
and kindness ; having an ample mansion, and 
still more enlarged heart. It may, indeed, be 
said of him, that he was conspicuously eminent, 
not only for his character and services in the 
religious society of Friends, but also for his 
extensive hospitality, and the uprightness of 
his conduct and dealings as a merchant." 
Israel married Rachel Read, who has been 
represented as '' a woman of great piety, and 
of an excellent character." Their children, 
Israel, James and John, were all prominent. 

In the latter part of the 3^ear 1699, Phineas 
Pemberton married Alice Hodgson, a young 
w^oman who resided in Burlington, but wdiose 
parents resided in Rhode Island. After living 
in w^edlock but little over two years, Alice be- 
came a widow, and sometime afterwards mar- 
ried AVilliam Bradford, a somewhat prominent 
printer of those days. 

George Brown, and Mercy his wife, were 
among the earliest settlers at Falls ; they had 
emigrated from Leicester, England, in the 



OF FKIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 71 

year 1679, and commenced pioneer life when 
what is now the State of Pennsylvania, was 
almost an unbroken w ilderness. It is recorded 
of G. B. that he w^as administering the office 
of '' Justice of the Peace," as early as the year 
1680. He possessed a valuable tract of land, 
bordering on the Delaw^are River, extending: 
inland to the manor boundary line, and also 
bordering upon the possessions of Phineas 
Pemberton. G. B. was never a member of 
the society of Friends, and there does not 
appear to be any satisfactory evidence that 
any of his children became members, except 
his son Samuel, who came into the fold on 
the ground of convincement, and afterwards 
married Ann Clarke. Samuel became a prom- 
inent member of Falls Monthly Meeting'^ 
and likewise a member of the Provincial 
Assembly ; his sons, George and John, were 
also members of the Colonial Government ; 
his daughter, Mercy, married Joshua Bald- 
win, a Friend of Chester County; her de- 
scendants are numerous in that section of 
the country and elsewhere. In the published 



72 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

biography of one of Gr. B.'s descendants, who 
was prominent in United States history, it is 
:stated that '' George Brown was a man of 
vigorous and cultivated intellect," that ''his 
children and grandchildren partook of his 
oharacter," and that " several of them were 
for many successive years, prominent members 
of the Provincial Government of Pennsylvania." 
The family encountered a share of the hard- 
ships and privations, such as usually fall to 
the lot of early settlers ; but it does not appear 
that there was any failure of courage, or any 
serious lack of worldly prosperity. A portion 
of their supplies were of course drawn from 
the water ; but in their first experience of 
wilderness life, their dependence was much 
upon the wild game of the forest, obtained by 
the skilful handling of the one gun in their 
possession ; but the lock thereof became disa- 
bled, and no means of seasonable repair was 
accessible ; their wants were still pressing ; in 
this emergency, they sought the deer, and the 
wild turkeys in company, and while the husband 
took deliberate aim at a well understood signal, 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 73 



the wife applied the torch to the priming. As 
the famil}^ circle widened, the possession of a 
cow was thought to be an almost indispensable 
necessity, but none Avas to be purchased short 
of New^ Castle ; the cow was procured from 
thenc'3, bat the undertaking was somewhat 
formidable; the way was long, extending 
through dense forests, along Indian paths, 
across treacherous swamps, and over perplexing 
water-courses. A dangerous overflow of the 
Delaware warned them to abandon their then 
occupied dwelling at the river bank, and locate 
upon higher ground; upon leaving their old 
locality and removing to the new, they 
transplanted their hominy block, which was 
the scooped out stump of a tree. The farm, 
which embraces the site of the original dwelling, 
and also the family burial-ground, still continue 
in possession of descendants of the family. It 
does not appear that there was any annoyance 
from Indian hostility, but an irritating question 
arose respecting the boundary lines between 
the adjacent lands of William Penn, and G. B. 
There is no evidence, and it is not likely that 



74 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 



the principals of the parties concerned in the 
controversy, manifested any pugnacious dispo- 
sition, but it is asserted that their servants came 
to blows, in defence of the supposed rights of 
those for whom they were severally interested. 
These servants were probably slaves. 

Friends of this day living in their cieled 
houses, surrounded bv the conveniences, and 
many of the luxuries of life, perhaps can form 
but an inadequate idea of the privations endured 
by many of the primitive settlers ; even at the 
present period of time, possessed of the advan- 
tages of modern invention, and other available 
means, it would be reckoned as a very tedious, 
laborious, and uncertain employment for a 
family of settlers to locate themselves in the 
woods, and depend upon their own unaided ex- 
ertions for support; and if the means were 
scanty, they could only look forward to a pre- 
carious subsistence for a few of the first years^ 
as it would require considerable time, labor and 
outlay, before the land could be brought under 
successful cultivation. But in those days, the 
poor emigrant penetrated the forest and laid 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 75 



the foundation of his small and rude dwelling ; 
the necessaries of life must be provided for him- 
self and those dependent upon him, during the 
building operation; there are perhaps but few 
that could lend a helping hand, and tlie work 
progresses slow ; his family suffer from exposure 
until the imperfect shell er is finished, which 
perhaps, when completed, scarcely affords pro- 
tection from the bleak winds, the drifting snows, 
and the drenching rains. The cabin being built, 
and furnished with such accommodations as 
correspond with the rustic surroundings, suj^- 
plies must be procured for the further susten- 
ance of the family, which perhaps consists of a 
wife, with a constitution shattered by disease 
brought on by unavoidable fatigue and exposure, 
and several helpless children dependent upon 
their parent's exertions for the sustenance of 
life. Beset with perplexities, and ahnost dis- 
paring of ability to supply his urgent wants' 
his faith and trust at times being brought to a 
severe test, he feels the gravity of his situation, 
and perhaps asking for a renewed blessing upon 
his painful, but willing labors, presses energeti- 



76 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

cally onward. The clearing and preparation 
for the crop is a very gradual work, and the 
needs of his family have not abated. The seed 
is at length committed to the bosom of the 
earth, and in due time the first harvest is gath- 
ered in ; but the quantity sown being small, 
the harvest is scanty also. Many families 
suffered extremely before they became natu- 
ralized to the climate, and many of the earlier 
settlers succumbed to the severe ordeal through 
which they were passing. But there is much 
evidence and ground for believing that many 
of these were through Divine favor, enabled to 
endure their privations and sufferings with an 
extraordinary degree of Christian fortitude ; and 
although their bodies often languished with 
disease, and sometimes for the want of outward 
bread, yet many of them evidently were often 
supplied abundantly with the bread of life, 
strengthened with might by the spirit in the 
inner man, enabled to look forward in hope^ 
reckoning that their many afflictions which 
might be for a limited season perhaps, would 
be followed by the dawn of a brighter day in 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY, 77 

temporal things, or be permitted to work out 
for them a far more exceeding and eternal 
weight of glory. And although their accom- 
naodations were rude, their supplies scanty, 
their neighborhood frequented by numerous 
warlike tribes, and wild beasts of prey prowled 
around their insecure dwellings, yet feeling 
their dependence upon Divine Providence for 
protection and preservation, and seeking 
heavenly aid with purity of heart, the Divine 
blessing was not Avithheld. Many that sickened 
departed hence from the earthly tabernacle, 
with the glorious assurance of a happy immor- 
tality ; and many that recovered were doubtless 
strengthened to take courage, and go on their 
way with humble thanksgiving and with grate- 
ful hearts. 

Relief was sometimes experienced in seasons 
of great scarcity by the sudden appearance of 
wild pigeons in the neighborhood ; and by the 
Indians bringing in provisions, which they 
sometimes did in perfect charity, refusing any 
compensation. 



78 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

The spinning wheel, and the hand loom were 
early brought into requisition, and the principal 
part of the clothing worn at that distant period 
was of home-made manufacture. Wheat, if 
not the principal medium of exchange, entered 
largely into the circulation of value in those 
days. 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 79 



CHAP. vri. 

Many offices of public trust were from time 
to time bestowed upon Pliineas Pemberton. In 
the year 1683, he was appointed by Christopher 
Taylor, to be his deputy Register for Bucks 
County ; the duties of the office were to w^ite 
and register all contracts and certificates of 
marriage, to register births and burials, and 
the names of all servants that were in, or should 
come into said county — the time of service, pay- 
ment, and freedom. In the same year he was 
appointed by William Penn to be clerk of the 
court. In the year 1684 he was appointed by 
C. Taylor, Register of Wills in Bucks County. 
In the year 1 686 he received a commission from 
Thomas Lloyd, to be deputy master of the Rolls 
in Bucks County. In 1689, by William Mark- 
ham and John Goodson, Receiver of Quit Rents 
in Bucks County. In 1691, by Thomas Lloyd, 
Register General of Bucks County. In 1696, 
was Master of the Rolls in Bucks County. In 
1701, by William Penn, one of the Council of 
State. 



80 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

In the year 1684, James Harrison'' accepted 
the office of steward from William Penn, which 
granted him the oversight of the Establisment 
atPennsbury, and thither be and his wife went 
to reside, continuing their abode there, and the 
administration of the accepted trust, during the 
life of James. The selection doubtless was a 
wise one, and we cannot but suppose that the 
duties of the position were discharged with 
fidelity. The superintendence and requisitions 
of the ofiice embraced the oversioht of ''the 
servants, building, &c.; and what relates to the 
place, to receive and pay, take and put away 
every servant ; to receive all strangers, and to 
place them as to lodgings. " The duties of his 
wife were " to overlook the maids in the dairy, 
kitchen and chambers ; with the charge of 
linen and plate ; and to have the maids account- 
able for inferior matters to her. " For this 
service the Proprietor proposed alhvwing them, 
'' a couple of chambers, and a horse ; and be- 
sides meat, drink and lodging, forty pounds 
for the first year, and fifty ever after ; " which 
W. P. says, " I conceive wall be a clear sub- 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 81 

sistence. I have truth and virtue in ray eye 
for my family. Pray let me know your 
answer as soon as you can." Having accepted 
the proposal, the commission was issued on the 
15th day of the 6th month. 

A Post Office was early established in Penn- 
sylvania, and arrangements made for the 
regular transportation of letters and passen- 
gers to and from the Falls, and other places. 
The following is a notice thereof. " In the oth 
month 1683, William Penn issued an order 
for the establishment of a Post Office, and 
granted to Henry Walby of Taconey, authority 
to hold one, and to supply passengers with 
horses from Philadelphia to JN'evv Castle, or to 
the Falls. The rates of postage of letters, aa ere 
from the Falls to Philadelphia, three pence ; 
to Chester, five pence ; to IS'ew Castle, seven 
pence ; and to Maryland, nine pence." 

The first presentation of intentions of mar- 
riage, that finally passed Falls Monthly Meet- 
ing, occurred at a session held at the house of 
William Biles on the 6th of the 12th month 
1683. The following account thereof is tran- 



82 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 



scribed as a specimen of the proceedings in 
such cases, in those days, and also as bringing 
into view some of the j)rominent members. 
" Richard Hough and Margery Clowes, this 
day presented their intentions, to take each 
other in marriage, being the first of their 
presentation ; therefore this meeting doth order 
William Yardley and Thomas Janney to 
make inquiry concerning their clearness from 
all other persons relating to marriage." The 
following minute was adopted at the succeed- 
ing Monthly Meeting held on the 5th day of 
the 1st month 1684, Richard Hough and 
Margery Clowes have again appeared in the 
meeting, and do desire the meeting's consent 
to take each other in marriage ; and Friends 
ordered to make inquiry do say, they find 
nothing but they are clear, both ; therefore, the 
meeting doth leave them to their liberty to 
proceed in marriage, and doth order Thomas 
Janney^ and William Yardley to see the same 
orderly done and performed." Among the 
minutes of the next Monthly Meeting the fol- 
lowing occurs, which terminates the proceeding. 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 83 



'' William Yardley hath given the meeting an 
account that the Marriage of Richard Hough 
and Margery Clowes was orderly performed, 
and hath brought the Certificate of Marriage 
to be recorded." 

Among the minutes of Falls Monthly 
Meeting, held at the house of Richard Hough, 
on the 4th day of the 3d month 1687, appears 
the following. " It is the unanimous judg- 
ment of this meeting, to sell rum to the 
Indians directly, or indirectly, or sell rum to 
any person ; that the so selling it, so to be 
disposed of [is wrong] because we know and 
are satisfied they know not, viz., the Indians, 
how to use it in moderation, but most com- 
monly to the abuse of themselves and others," 
This early testimony in support of temperance 
w^as commendable to the meeting which issued 
it. 

One member was dealt with for speaking 
^' unsavory words." Another who had com- 
mitted some indiscretion in court, was required 
to publish his condemnation in the court, and 
in the meeting. 



84 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

Benevolence appears to have been a 
prominent feature in the character of the 
primitive settlers at Falls ; the records of the 
Monthly Meeting give early evidence of this. 
The following minute describes a portion of the 
business of their third Monthly Meeting, held 
the 4th day of the 5th month 1683. '^William 
Biles hath this day acquainted the meeting 

that ^of JNTeshaminy, hath made him 

acquainted that he is in want as to his outward 
concerns, and he and some others hath took 
his condition into their consideration, and 
have bought him a cow and calf, the price is 
£5, and do desire this meeting's assistance 
towards the payment of said cow and calf, to 
which this meeting doth consent.'' The re- 
mainder of the minute provides for the pay- 
ment of the said sum, which at a subsequent 
meeting was reported paid. This minute is 
also evidence that the settlements of Friends 
had extended to Neshaminy at that date. 

In the year 1684, Friends of Neshaminy 
were organized into a separate Monthly Meet- 
ing, by direction of the Yearly Meeting ; and 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 85 

in the same year Bucks Quarterly Meeting 
was established, the two Monthly Meetings 
being represented therein. After Friends of 
Neshaminy became divided off from Flails, 
there yet remained three branches. One 
Meeting for worship was held above the 
Falls of Delaware, one below the Falls, and 
one at the middle lots, now Fallsington ; 
at which place, in the year 1690, the first 
Friends' Meeting House in Bucks County 
was erected. xA.bout the same time it was 
concluded to hold meetings for worship on 
first day, in the IVew Meeting House, for 
the members of the three meetings collect- 
ively ; and it is probable that those separate 
m.eetings were not long afterwards discon- 
tinued altogether. Burial Grround was pro- 
vided at each of the localities. That above 
the Falls was deeded to Friends by Thomas 
Janney, for a nominal consideration, in the 
year 1690. It has been represented as 
located at Slate Hill, upon the King's Road, 
leading to the uppermost plantations on the 



86 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

Delaware River. There were afterwards ad- 
ditions made to it, and it is now known by 
the name of " The Stone Graveyard." 

The earliest known title conveying pro- 
perty to Falls Monthly Meeting, bears date 
the fourth day of the 4th month, 1690. At 
that period a deed was granted by Samuel 
Burges, for six acres of land, then supposed 
to be the six acres now occupied by Friends 
Meeting Houses and other improvements at 
Fallsington ; but by some unaccountable mis- 
take, the bearings and distances recorded in 
the Deed, embraced a plot of ground en- 
tirely beyond the eastern boundary of the 
intended gift. This oversight was a source 
of considerable annoyance for years, and it 
was not until the year 1724, that Daniel 
Burges, who had inherited his father's real 
estate, conveyed the originally intended six 
acres, by Deed, to trustees appointed by Falls 
Monthly Meeting, subject to a yearly quit 
rent of one grain of Indian corn, to be paid 
to the said heirs and assigns, if the same by 
them be lawfully demanded. This appended 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 87 

condition was probably designed to meet 
some technicality of law. In a Declaration 
of Trust executed for these premises in the 
year 1706, the Trustees certify that they 
held the property ''To the uses and intents 
hereinafter mentioned and declared, and 
under considerations, provisions, and restric- 
tions, hereinafter limited and expressed, and 
for no other use, intent, or purpose what- 
soever ; that is to say, for the benefit, use^ 
and behoof of the poor people of said 
Quakers, belonging to the said Meeting, for- 
ever, and for a place or places to erect and 
continue a meeting house or meeting houses,, 
and for places to bury their dead." This 
language, or something like it, was inserted 
in the Declarations of Trust until the year 
1828. The meeting house built on the said 
six acre lot in the year 1841, is the fifth 
Friends' Meeting House erected on the 
premises. 

Falls Monthly Meeting extended its care 
and control over the Burying Ground for 
Friends at the Middle Lots, now the Old 



88 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES 

Grraveyarcl at Fallsington, about the year 
1691 ; but it is apparent that this burying 
place existed previous to that date. And as 
in the process of time the meetings hekl at 
Fallsington became the general resort of 
Friends that formerly constituted the three 
aforesaid meetings, it is probable that the 
Graveyard at that place became generally 
preferred, and consequently has been filled 
up to much greater extent than either of 
the others. 

Extract from Phineas Pemberton's will : 
'^ I also give to our Monthly Meeting, Twenty 
Pounds towards the advancing and main- 
taining a free school, when more gifts are 
added, (considerable,) for the carrying on of 
the said Avork.'' 

A mill of ancient origin, and perhaps one 
of the first in the State of Pennsylvania, Avas 
erected by the side of a large rock, lying at 
the western skirts of what is now the village 
of Fallsington ; it probably belonged to Ran- 
dal Blackshaw. 



OF FRIENDS IX BUCKS COUNTY. 89 

TraGlition represents that the first man 
hano'ecl in the State of Pennsylvania, was 
executed in Penn's Manor, near Tyburn ; after 
judicial process by judge and jury. The 
position which Friends occupied in relation 
thereto, is not now certainly known ; the 
I records of the Court proceedings of Bucks 
County having been destroyed by British 
soldiers at the time of the Revolutionary 
War. 

John Rowland and Thomas Rowland, ap- 
pear to have been early immigrants, and 
active supporters of the infant Monthly 
Meeting ; they possessed a large tract of 
land in the Colony. There is a stretch of 
low land extending southward from the village 
of Tyburn, which yet bears the name of 
Rowland Swamp. Edmund Lovett settled 
early on the banks of the Delaware, but 
afterwards removed inland, and the meeting 
at Middle Lots was for a time held at his 
house. Joshua Hoopes and Thomas Fitz- 
water appear to have been of early promi- 
nence, and doubtless there were other valuable 



90 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

Friends at that period whose names are now 
but little known. 

The first testimony inserted in the old Book 
of Memorials, published by direction of Phila- 
delphia Yearly Meeting in the year 1787, is 
thus introduced. " An abstract of JN^icholas 
Wain's Testimony concerning that faithful 
servant of the Lord, Cuthbert Hayhurst, who 
departed this life at his own house in the 
County of Bucks, in Pennsylvania, about the 
5th of the first month, 1682-3, near the fiftieth 
year of his age. " There can be but little 
doubt but what this valiant in our Israel 
resided among his friends at Falls, as there 
had been but little enlargement of their borders 
at that period. But as his decease occurred a 
few weeks previous to Falls Monthly Meeting, 
his name does not appear upon its records, and 
the exact place of his residence is uncertain. 

Another testimony in the old Book of 
Memorials is thus brought into notice, ''John 
Hayton's testimony concerning Thomas Lang- 
horne, who died at his own habitation in Bucks 
County, Pennsylvania, the 6th of the eighth 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 91 



month 1687 . ' ' There is also uncertainty respect- 
ing the residence of this interesting minister,' but 
it is quite likely that he died at T^eshaminy, 
and probable that his dwelling was at the 
locality which is now called Langhorne's Hill. 
In compiling this brief account relating 
chiefly to the early settlement of Friends at 
Falls, it is not designed to trace the personal 
history of the many worthies who located there 
at a later date, but simply to gather up a few 
kindred fragments of general history, extending 
down to a much later period of time. 



92 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

CHAP. VIII. 

Doctor Watson, whose memory extended 
back as far as 1750, and who doubtless had 
personal acquaintance with some of the aged 
who had been early settlers at Buckingham, 
states that the first adventurers were chiefly 
from the Falls Meeting, but afterwards named 
a number of later arrivals from other points. 
He also, in harmony with other informa- 
tion, bears several testimonies to the zeal 
and diligence of many of those primitive 
worthies, in attending their distant religious 
meetings for worship, and discipline at Falls. 
The Quarterly Meeting allowed Buckingham 
Friends a meeting for worship, in the year 
1700, which relieved them from much wear- 
isome traveling ; but their meeting continued 
a branch of Falls Monthly Meeting for ten 
years longer, during which time their zeal 
did not abate, but they are represented as 
continuing diligent in attending their meet- 
ings for discipline, until their connection 
with Wrightstown Friends in a Monthly 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 93 



Meeting capacity was consummated in 1710. 
These items of history exhibit a pleasing and 
instructive feature in the character of some 
of our primitive Friends in the pursuit of 
things relating to their everlasting welfare. 
Prior to the year 1700, there was no meeting 
for worship located at Buckingham, and 
Friends in that vicinity were members of 
Falls Particular Meeting, which was held at 
the distance of near twenty miles from the 
residences of some of them. And when we 
take into consideration the wilderness state 
of the country in those days^ the very 
imperfect roads, the difficulty and tecliousness 
of traveling, that the best mode of conveyance 
for men, and women also, was on horseback^ 
and that even this accommodation was beyond 
the reach of some ; the time that elapsed 
before Friends leaving their dwelling's, could 
attend their meetings, and return from thence ; 
the frequent occurrence of those meetings ; 
the necessity of diligence and frugality in 
order to obtain a livelihood ; the exposed 
situation of travelers without the conveniences 



94 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

of modern invention, to shield them from the 
inclemencies of the weather ; and the fatigue 
of body to be endm^ed in those journeys ; — 
when we take into consideration a situation 
such as is here represented, it is manifest 
that the carrying out of the privilege of 
attending their religious meetings was attained 
at the cost of very considerable sacrifice. 
The assembling of ourselves together for the 
solemn purpose of Divine worship, has always 
been held by our society as an imperative obli- 
gation for our observance, when circumstances 
do not render it impracticable; and it is 
evident that the pioneers of our society at 
Buckingham were not less sensible of this 
obligation in their day, than we are sensible 
of it in this our day. Inconveniences and 
difficulties stood in their wav, such as have 
not been experienced in modern times ; yet 
when the sense of indispensable duty was 
manifest before them, these inconveniences 
and difficulties were cheerfully encountered, 
and doubtless the pious pilgrimage was 
generally accomplished with devotion of spirit 



OF FKIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 95 

and crowned with peace of mind. Nor need 
we marvel at the zeal of those Avorthies in 
this respect, when we reflect that most 
likely some of them were of the number, but 
if not of the number, were kindred in spirit 
with them, who stemmed the torrent of 
persecution in England ; who having been 
hauled from their religious meetino-s to 

o o 

prison, suffered the penalty of the law for 
months and being liberated, sought the first 
opportunity, publicly, to assemble Avith their 
friends for the cherished purpose of Divine 
worship ; thus manifesting their allegiance to 
the King of kings, although they knew that 
the laws of the King of England would bear 
heavier upon them for every additional 
offence. It is however manifest that the 
attendance of their religious meetings w^as 
dear to them, an enjoyment they were not 
willing to forego, a duty to their Divine Master 
which they looked upon as indispensable, and 
they were willing to bear testimony to that 
duty, even at the expense of convenience, of 
property, of liberty and of life. It therefore 



96 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

need not astonish lis that many of our 
Buckingham Friends were faithful in the 
attendance of their reliodous meetino-s, althou^^h 
located twenty miles from some of their 
dwellings ; and it appears that some of. these 
devoted ones attended on foot; nor was this 
number confined to the male sex, but females 
were seen wending their way along solitary 
Indian paths, on horseback and on foot, some 
of them carrying their young children in their 
arms, crossing obstructive water-courses, pass- 
ing through forests haunted by wild beasts, and 
by the proximity of such tribes as were a 
terror to the white man of other colonies ; 
occasionally discomforted by summer's heat, 
and winter's frosts, and sometimes confronted 
by swollen streams or drifting snows. Their 
outward lot was evidently a hard one, but 
being in the w^ay of their religious duty, and 
animated by holy zeal and fervency of spirit, 
they doubtless were enabled to go on their 
way rejoicing. The faithful are sometimes 
permitted to rejoice in tribulation; and having 
sown in tears, have reaped in joy, These 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 97 

trusting ones Avere preserved from outward 
dangers, nor can we doubt that a large amount 
of preservation from spiritual enemies was 
experienced also ; nor need we marvel that 
the Church prospered in those days. Were 
we now to travel back in retrospect to the 
early days of our society, and take a glance 
at the condition of our suffering Friends in 
England, it might not be surprising to us 
that the prevalence of severe persecution, 
growing out of oppressive government policy, 
and striking at the root of civil and religious 
liberty, did loosen the attachment of some 
of them to their native land, and present 
the Province of Pennsylvania to their view 
as an attractive asylum for the persecuted 
and oppressed. These persecuted ones suf- 
fered for righteousness sake, and rather than 
turn aside from the path of manifested duty, 
w^ere willing to suiFer, and yet could they be 
relieved from the yoke of cruel oppression 
by removal to a distant land, some of them 
were w^illing to choose it rather. JVumbers 
of these faithful ones sought our shores^ and 



98 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

laid the foundations of their dwellings in the 
wilds of America, carrying with them that 
pm^ity of principle and integrity of heart 
whicli they could not exercise unmolested in 
their native land. 

The condition of the burial ground at the 
Point, or Grrove Place, the ten rods square 
which Phineas Pemherton set apart for the 
accommodation of his family and friends, is 
calculated to awaken a variety of feeling. 
That portion whicli contains the remains of 
the Pembertons and some of their particular 
friends, is enclosed by a suitable stone wall, 
without any gateway therein. It was thus 
enclosed by direction of John Pemberton, a 
beloved minister, (a short time previous to 
his last religious visit to Europe; a visit 
from which he never returned, but died at 
Pyrmont, in Prussia,) in aifectionate remem- 
brance of departed relatives and friends, that 
their graves might not be laid waste ; and for 
the purpose of preserving the enclosed plot 
in decent order, he left a small annuity, 
secured by will, upon a farm in the neigh- 



OF FEIP:NDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 99 

borhood, and Falls Monthly Meeting accepted 
the guardianship thereof, and has long con- 
tinued to administer the trust. This annuity 
of latter time has not been paid ; nevertheless 
the Meeting continues to extend care over 
the premises. A few years since, some 
Friends planted four silver pine trees within 
the enclosure, chiefly in view of checking the 
undergrowth. These trees have now grown 
to attractive proportions. An adjoining stone 
wall, erected several years since, encloses 
another portion of the general repository of 
the dead. The plot thus enclosed is of small 
extent, and perhaps vv^as designed as a family 
burial place. The aspect of the remaining 
portion of the ten rods square has considerably 
changed of latter times ; the hand of man has 
removed the grave stones ; the plow has leveled 
the graves ; and crops have been gathered from 
the soil beneath which repose the remains of 
many of our fellow mortals. A Friend who 
visited the locality a few years since writes: ''I 
stood upon the grave-yard wall, and mused on 
the scene around me. In the enclosure on my 



100 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES 

right hand were the graves of the worthy Pern- 
bertons, and Harrisons, of Roger Longworth^ 
and of other worthies; hut John Pemberton 
left no provision for repairs of the wall which 
surrounds them; the cover is already much 
out of order, portions of the wall itself are be- 
coming somewhat defective, and time's wasting 
hand may crumble it to the earth; and as 
several of the latter deeds for the surrounding 
farm make no reserve for these premises^ I 
thought it would not be improbable that the 
day would come, when the hand of avarice 
would remove the fragTnents of the decayed 
wall, the plowshare invade the covering of the 
dead, and naught remain to mark this interest- 
ing spot. On my left hand lay the other in- 
closure; it contained the remains of at least 
one Friend, who was rich in the abundance of 
this world's goods, but the pale messenger 
would not be denied ; he and his poorer neigh- 
bors of this village of the dead^ have with like 
accountability, all passed to their final account; 
while their bodies lie side by side in this their 
mother earth. Before me lie the obliterated 



OF FKIEiSrDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. lOi 



graves of many of my fellow mortals, doubtless 
among them many worthy Friends ; a small 
mound of earth to mark the spot of their inter- 
ment has been denied them ; a little roughness 
in the surface of the soil is yet discernible, but 
it is now a portion of the cultivated field. This 
aspect of affairs may be harassing to loving kin- 
dred and friends, but the imperishable part is 
far beyond the reach of man. I am no advocate 
for garnishing the sepulchres of the dead, and 
it is true that our care and concern for the poor 
body, cannot affect the disunited soul ; yet, there 
is something congenial with our better feelings, 
in decent interment, and decent preservation 
of the grave. And without cherishing a su- 
perstitious veneration for these premises, it 
may be profitable to the heart to contemplate 
the scene presented here ; with feelings mingled 
with earth and heaven, we may here contem- 
plate the mortality of man, and the end of 
liuman existence, and perhaps be reminded 
that we ourselves are tottering over the grave ; 
we may here contemplate the frailty of human 
memorials, and the value and endurance of 



102 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

tliose that are on high. Here, too. the piety and 
virtues of departed worth, and names written 
in the book of life, and of names bk:)tted out, 
may forcibly be brought to the view of our re- 
membrance, and by the divine blessinii' arouse 
US from a state of indifference, break up our 
false rest, and stimuhite us to renewed wrest- 
lings for a crown of righteousness. It is said 
to be profitable to go to the house of mourning, 
and this place of interment lias ofttimes been 
witness of effusions of grief; the feelings of 
natural affections have found vent here, as sor- 
rowino' friends have gathered around these 
graves, and beheld the mortal remains of those 
they loved finally deposited in the earth — some 
have sorrowed, but we trust not as they who 
have no hope; to some death had no sting, 
and the gra\'e no victory, and the close of the 
evening of life, was doubtless succeeded by the 
dawn of an everlasting day. '' 

As a confirmation of the utility of occasional 
visits to the resting places of the remains of 
the worthy dead, it may not be out of place to 
insert a descriptive account of a pilgrimage 



OF FEIEXDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 103 



made by the pious Doctor Fothergill and his 
benevolent sister, of a somewhat corresponding 
character; ''to drop the grateful tribute of a 
tear, at the side of an honored parent's grave ; 
to see that his sepulchre was not laid Avaste, 
but secured from the ravages of neglect, w^as to 
us a pleasing duty. Firmly persuaded that 
we had not the least cause to mourn on his 
account, and nothing left more becoming to us, 
than to call to mind his precepts and examples, 
we left the solitary spot with hearts full of rev- 
erent thankfulness that such was our father, 
and that we were so far favored, as to be able 
to remember him with oTatitude and affection." 
The Pemberton grave-yard, lies near the 
point, wdiere what is now called Biles Creek or 
Glen Arn, after skirting an island, re-enters the 
DelaAvare. JN^early all the earliest settlers at 
the Falls, located themselves on land lying 
within the great bend of the river, in what is 
now called Penn's Manor. The originators 
of Fall's Monthl}^ Meeting were, perhaps, 
wdth one exception, residents of this locality. 
In looking back, to the history of this early 



104 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

favored section of our land, the mind is clothed 
with a degree of sadness while contemplating 
its present position and aspect ; there are now 
none residing within its limits whom we ac- 
knowledge as members of our religious societ}^ 
We cannot confer grace upon our children, 
nor can religious bodies confer grace upon their 
successors ; there are noAv but few prominent 
supporters of the primitive faith among the 
descendants of our most gifted and best early 
members — and numerous religious bodies, both 
in ancient and modern times, lost their primi- 
tive brightness and tended to decay and an- 
nihilation : the case although disappointing is 
not singular, there being numerous precedents. 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 105 



CHAP. IX. 

The members of Buck's Quarterly Meeting, 
many of whom had experienced a long season 
of sore privation, anxiety and distress, incident 
to pioneer life, at length emerged from the in- 
teresting past, and were permitted to behold 
the breaking of a brighter day, at least in tem- 
poral things. Slavery, which had taken root 
in the economy of some of the early settlers, 
had become more and more discountenanced 
by the wise and good, and many of our worthies 
became zealous for its extinguishment. It is 
manifest from reliable historic information, 
that much rum was made use of in primitive 
times, and also a very considerable amount 
of tobacco. These articles of doubtful utility 
were granted indulgence, for the alleged pur- 
pose of warding off infection. The apology 
was entertained in reference to the liberal use 
of spirituous liquors, that many of the settlers 
in substituting the drinking water of this 
country for that of England, thought their 



106 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

bodily condition unfavorably affected, especial- 
ly so when satisfying tlie excess of thirst 
created by our sometimes hot climate ; under 
these circumstances rum was somewhat exten- 
sively supposed to be a benefit, and also in 
cases of exposure to wet weather and pinching 
cold. The effects of the fi'ee use of spirituous 
liquors at a somewhat later period, appeared 
to be growing to alarming proportions, and 
many Friends, becoming convinced of the 
gravity of the situation, interposed their influ- 
ence and authority for the abatement of the 
eviL How far members of Bucks Quarterly 
Meeting participated in the irregularities and 
inconsistencies of those distant colonial days^ 
does not now minutely appear ; it is, how- 
ever manifest that the primitive settlers were 
chiefly Friends ; but doubtless a concern pre- 
vailed among our worthies of that period to do 
away Avith what they saw to be surely wrong ; 
it would be characteristic of them ; and it is 
not likely that any of their members departed 
far from the path of rectitude before they were 
dealt with according to established order by 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 107 



their watchful brethren, and reclaimed or ex- 
€luded from society. The records of Falls 
Monthly Meeting exhibit the vigilance of 
that body in guarding its profession against 
reproach ; and it is not likely that the other 
branches of the Quarterly Meeting, chiefly 
spreading from Falls as a parent stem, sud- 
denly abated their carefulness. 

There is evidence that weddings generally 
assumed the form of festivals, which it has 
been suggested was in imitation of such prac- 
tice in England. A good dinner was provided 
for the entertainment; the invited guests in- 
cluded relations, friends and neighbors, in 
number sometimes amounting to more than 
two hundred. It has been represented that in 
these promiscuous gatherings, •' a lively spirit 
of plain friendship, but rather rude manners, 
prevailed in the company ; they frequently 
met again the next day, and being mostly 
young people, and from under restraint, prac- 
ticed social plays and sports in which they 
went to an extreme of folly." These customs 
appertaining to marriages, were with some 



108 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

modifications, continued until a much later 
period of time ; but how far Friends partici- 
pated therein does not now fully appear. 

Much produce was conveyed to the distant 
market, and grain to the distant mill, on horse- 
back — and light carts were gradually intro- 
duced, and finally wagons ; these accommo- 
dating vehicles w^ere esteemed a great im- 
provement upon former usage : were much 
valued as an available means for transporta- 
tion of the increasing spare produce, also as 
an improved mode of personal conveyance, as 
well as important appendages to the farming- 
operations, and to such industrial establish- 
ments as might need them. The introduction 
■of Riding Chairs w^as long regarded with dis- 
trust, and as an unwelcome innovation upon 
primitive simplicity. 

The stock of domestic animals was greatly 
multiplied ; the flesh of the cloven-footed 
variety when fatted and slaughtered yielding- 
abundant provision ; copious supplies of milk, 
butter and cheese w^ere produced, and from 
the wool of the sheep the crude material for 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 109 

the manufacture of clothino;. The Eno-lish 
breed of horses were gradually introduced, 
and were said to have been much preferred, 
being larger, more elegant, and more gentle 
and docile in their tempers than those in gene- 
ral use. The system of farming was also much 
improved. 

Wheat and rye growing thick and tall on 
the newly cultivated land, many men, and 
^ome women, it is said, became very skilful in 
the use of the sycle, which was the instrument 
made use of for harvesting such crops in those 
days; some of these laborers became somewhat 
ambitious of their qualifications for reaping, 
and proved their dexterity and endurance in 
energetic contests for suj^eriority in skill and 
speed. The flail was the chief instrument 
made use of for beating out the grain, which 
was separated from the chaff by tossing it 
sufficiently high to come in effectual contact 
with the force of the wind. 

It is said that the hunter in his loo- cabin 
enjoyed his roasted venison and stewed ])ies 
with a high degree of relish, and it is probable 



110 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 

that some followed hunting as an occupation, 
not only for the support of themselves and 
families, but also that thev might profit by 
the sale of their surplus accumulations. Deer, 
turkeys and other small game were plentiful 
in supply, and excellent provision in their 
season ; and it is manifest that these articles 
of diet, so useful in contributing to the neces- 
sities of pioneer life, entered largely into the 
life-sustaining support of that generation. Of 
course those located in the neighborhood of 
the river, and some of the smaller streams, 
drew large supplies from thence. 

'' For common living, milk, bread and pie 
made the breakfast, the milk beino- boiled and 
sometimes thickened in winter; good pork and 
bacon with plenty of sauce, a wheat-flour pud- 
ding, or dumplings, for dinner ; and mush or 
hominy, with milk, butter and honey for suj)- 
per. Pies of green and dried apples, were the 
universal standard of good eating, especially 
for children." It is reported that " notwith- 
standing the engagements at home, and the 
difficulty of travelling in those early times, 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. Ill 



the visits of friendship were frequent, not only 
among relations, but others. On these occa- 
sions, cider metheglin, or small beer, toast of 
light biscuit made of line Avheat flour, and 
milk, butter, cheese, custards and pies made 
up an afternoon's repast." 

Of course, the products of the farm and 
kitchin -garden entered largely into the family 
requirements ; the pumpkin pie which was 
held in much early esteem, has not yet lost its 
reputation within the compass of some sections 
of the Quarterly Meeting. A good apple or- 
chard w^as much prized by some of the earlier 
settlers ; the fruit was relished, cider was not 
despised, apple-butter was a favorite produc- 
tion, and cutting apple parties were frequent. 

^'The imposing authority of necessity obliged 
the first settlers to w^ear a strong and coarse 
kind of dress ; enduring buckskin w^as used 
for breeches, and sometimes for jackets; osna- 
burg made of hemp and tow was much used 
for. boys' shirts, sometimes flax, and flax and 
tow were made for that purpose ; and coarse 
tow for trousers. A wool hat, strong shoes 



112 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

with brass buckles, two linsey jackets, and a 
leather apron, made up the winter appareL 
This kind of dress continued to be common 
for laboring people until 1750." 

In the generations succeeding the first set- 
tlers, there being a gradual advancement in 
worldly prosperity, and a disposition to gather 
more of the outward comforts of life around 
them, a propensity appeared in some to in- 
dulge in a little superfluity. The antiquated 
form of made-up coats of fine cloth has been 
represented as displaying three or four large 
plaits in the skirt, wadding almost like a 
coverlid to keep them smooth, cuffs large to 
the elbows, open below, and of round form ; 
the hat of a young man as a good broad- 
brimmed beaver, with double loops drawn 
nearly close in the rear, and half raised on 
each side. The silk gown as much plaited in 
the back, the sleeves nearly twice as large as 
the arm, and reaching rather more than half 
way from the shoulder, the interval covered 
with a fine holland sleeve, nicely plaited. 
Some of the ancient beaver bonnets, worn by 



OF FRIENDS IX BUCKS COUNTY. 113 



women in those days, were long retained, and 
are j)erliaps A^et preserved as heir-looms in 
some families. The hirge overcoat with a 
cape, long maintained a general standing, but 
somewhat fantastic innovations upon its form 
are reported. How far members participated 
in those innovations upon former simplicity^ 
is not now very apparent. 

'' Notwithstanding the antique and rough 
dresses, and unimproved habits and manners 
that obtained among the early settlers ; yet an 
honest, candid intention, a frank sincerity, and 
a good degree of zeal and energy in adhering 
to religious principles and duties, generally 
prevailed among the more substantial part of 
them. The Ciireful housewifery and strict do- 
mestic discipline of many honorable mothers, 
had long an influential effect. The domestic 
management which fell to the share of the 
women, was generally well ordered. As soon 
as wool and flax were raised, they manufac- 
tured good linen of different degrees of fine- 
ness — drugget, linsey, worsted, &c., sufficient 
to clothe themselves and families — were very 



114 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

industrious and triigal, contented to live upon 
what their present means afforded, and were 
generally qualified to make the most proper 
use of what they had. " 

AVhile the land was fresh and new, it pro- 
duced crops of wheat and rye, represented 
from fifteen to twenty-live or thirty bushels to 
the acre, and it appears from an old account- 
book of one who conducted a grist-mill and 
store, before and after the year 1730, that his 
charges were as follows : ''Wheat, from three to 
four shillings ; Rye, one shilling less ; Indian- 
Corn and Buckwheat, two ; Middlings, fine, seven 
and eight shillings ; course, four to six ; Bran, 
one shilling ; Salt, four ; Beef, two pence ; Bacon, 
four pence ; Pork, about two pence. " 

" Improved land was sold generally by the 
acre, at the price of twenty bushels of wheat. 
Thus, wheat 2s. Qd,^ land £2 10s. ^ wheat 36*., 
land £3, wheat 3s. 6r/., land £3 IO5., wheat 65., 
land £5. " 

It has been represented that education was in 
a very backward, condition, that school-houses 
were generally poor dark places, that the 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 115 

teachers were often very unsuitable, that dis- 
cipline was often administered with great se- 
verity, and that but little school learning was 
in a general way obtained. 

The winter of 1740-41 was very severe, the 
snow was deep and laid long ; and it is said 
that in those earlier days of colonial history, 
snow fell in greater abundance, and laid longer 
upon the ground, than of later years ; and also 
that north-easterly storms of two or three days' 
continuance, were more frequent ; also the ap- 
pearance of northern lights. 

The few remaining Indians were disposed to 
cultivate amicable relations with their pale- 
faced neighbors, and were also disposed to 
be serviceable. Thus, peace and prosperity 
reigned, and civilization progressed. 

Several of the quotations are from the pen 
of Dr. Watson, who, in the absence of direct 
information, is confidently supposed to have 
been a Friend, and to have lived in Bucking- 
ham. And although his descriptions were not 
confined to that locality, it is reasonable to con- 
elude that some of them embraced stronger 



116 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

points in the vicinity than elsewhere. In the 
absence of local history, the deficiency may in 
some measure be supplied by referring to his- 
torical accounts of neighboring sections of 
country that have been settled under corres- 
ponding circumstances, and by the same kind 
of people, whose manners, habits and pursuits, 
whose privations and enjoyments, and civil and 
religious progress, are supposed to have been 
very similar to their own ; and thus, by refer- 
ring to the more northern section of our fra- 
ternal community, circumscribed within the 
limits of the Quarterly Meeting, whose boun- 
daries have ever been of moderate extent; 
and by applying the descriptions and conclu- 
sions to the remaining part of our meeting ter- 
ritory, we may thus become possessed of much 
apparently reliable general information, that 
may be received with confidence, and applied 
accordingly. 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 117 



CHAP. X. 

The temporal blessings of a beniiicent Pro- 
vidence were now abundantly scattered around 
a thriving people, not in the form of stately 
mansions, of costly furniture, of well-filled 
coffers, of splendid equipages, of numerous 
servants ; these they possessed not, their bles- 
sings did not consist in these ; but they were 
of a different character, and of a more sub- 
stantial kind. Their houses were not ostenta- 
tious, but comfortable ; their raiment coarse^ 
but serviceable, and principally of their own 
manufacture ; their food wholesome, nourish- 
ing and abundant ; their health, mostly good^ 
and slumbers sweet and refreshing; their 
flocks and herds were scattered around them^ 
yielding a supply of food, raiment and ser- 
vice, and receiving the needful provender^ 
shelter and care ; the land, after much labor ^ 
had been brought under successful cultivation^ 
and the seasons being favorable, yielded abun- 
dant harvests, and richly repaid the husband- 



118 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

man for his toil ; the merchant and mechanic 
received the patronage of a thriving people, 
and in general, harmony prevailed among the 
inhabitants. If this picture is correctly drawn, 
it presents a beaiitifnl specimen of the outward 
comforts of life under very favorable circum- 
stances for appreciative enjoyment; it presents 
to our view, a condition which the Avise and 
good of all ages have commended — a happy 
medium between poverty and riches, wherein 
want pinches not, nor cares oppress ; it pre- 
sents to our view the happy effects of honest 
industry and patient perseverance, regulated 
by a solemn sense of religious feeling ; and it 
presents to our view, a people contented in 
their allotments, reaping the enjoyment of a 
harmonious intercourse with each other ; satis- 
fying their unambitious minds, not with the 
extravagances and luxuries of life, but with 
abundance to sustain and to gratify their 
moderate wants. The time here adverted to, 
from 1725 to 1750, was, perhaps, the hapjiiest 
period in our early history — peace, plenty, 
harmony and contentment smiled upon the 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 119 



generation then existing ; an extraordinary out- 
pouring of the spirit upon sons and daughters 
was*recognized ; the body was nourished and 
the mind refreshed. Doctor Watson writes, 
^' Friends about that period (1732) were 
greatly fayored Ayith a liyely flow of gospel 
ministiy. Jacob Holcombe, John Scarborough, 
Samuel Eastburn, Joshua Ely. Benjamin Fell, 
Enoch Pearson, Edmund Kinsey. Abigail 
Paxson, Elizabeth^Fell, Phebe Ely (formerly 
Phebe Smith), Jane Bradtield and Ann Scho- 
iield, were all ministers, and all of them at 
the same time members of Buckingham Meet- 
ing, except Jacob Holcombe and Abigail Pax- 
son who were deceased before my memory. 
All the rest I can well remember. About 1750- 
51, John Scarborough was fi'equent and gene- 
rally large in his testimonies, as also Isaac 
Child who appeared at Plumstead when quite 
a young man. Nathan Preston and Thomas 
Yickers were ministers belonoino- to that meet- 
ing/' But man is prone to forget his Benefac- 
tor when loaded with his continued benefits ; 
the increase of riches are fayorable to the in- 



120 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

trorluction of a worldly spirit, and temporal 
prosperity often operates unfayorably upon 
minds untempered by religious experience; 
many who liaye been sympathizing pupils 
in the school of adyersity haye relaxed their 
friendship in the hour of prosperity ; worldly 
aggrandizement has produced enyy in the feel- 
ino's of some who have been left in obscurity ; 
competition in the pursuit of the same object, 
has sometimes created and fostered jealousy 
and ill feeling ; and the cross occurrences of 
life in general, haye often generated discontent 
in weak minds. Causes like these operating 
on the natural sensibilities, haye sometimes 
sapi^ed the tranquility of communities, dis- 
turbed the order of society, impeded the pros- 
perity of the professing church, and brought 
down Diyine displeasure upon an ungrateful 
and backsliding people. Some of these conse- 
quences came on apace, and eyentually oyer- 
took the peaceful progress of the much fa- 
yored but perhaps too un watchful community. 
Eriends still retained a preponderating influ- 
ence in the administration of the Goyernment, 



OF FEIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 121 

which still remained tranquil ; was yet con- 
ducted in great measure on the principles upon 
which it was founded, the people were still 
reaping the benefits thereof, and harmony still 
continued to prevail. The picture presented 
to the imagination at this period was beautiful, 
but perhaps it was as the calm that precedes 
the storm. In the succeeding ten years the 
aspect of affairs considerably changed; the 
period from 1750 to 1760 was marked by a 
decline of friendly intercourse, of united and 
harmonious action among Friends, and of 
church and state tranquility in general ; the 
influence of our members in the Provincial 
Government began to decline, as the growing 
importance and determined opposition of a 
rival power, almost diametrically opposite in 
principle, and unfeeling in practice, bore tri- 
umphantly onward to the supplanting of Friends 
in the Colonial Councils. The rights of the 
Indian were neglected, his wrongs unredressed, 
and driven to some acts of violence by way of 
retaliation, was met in the same vindictive spirit 
by the rival power ; war was declared against 



122 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

him, and at the same time against his French 
allies, who had laid claim to and invaded a 
portion of Pennsylvania bordering on its 
western frontier. The turbulent spirits of those 
turbulent tiines clamored for war. The agita- 
tions of the colony are said to have been violent. 
In the commotions prevailing the political 
influence of Friends passed away, and the reins 
of the government of Pennsylvania fell from 
their hands ; but being rid of its responsibilities 
and entanglements, and of a number of their 
unstable members who having deserted their 
principles had been very annoying, and from 
their own sufferings learning righteousness, a 
more satisfactory yet still anxious season 
followed. 

One morning in the year 1760, the sun shown 
as brightly as usual for about an hour after 
rising, and then the air grew dark, and in the 
afternoon the sun was totally obscured. In 
the summer of 1766, almost all the privet 
hedge died in Bucks County, the loss of more 
than two miles of it is reported to have taken 
place upon one farm. About this time pota- 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 123 

toes were introduced, and were raised in fields 
in considerable quantities for family use and 
for stock. The export of Indian meal com- 
menced about the year 1767, and the grain 
becoming profitable was more generally raised. 
Much whole grain of wheat was sent to France, 
and whole corn to the West Indies; produce 
commanded a better price, money became more 
abundant, circulated more freely, and more lux- 
urious habits were gradually initiated. Tea 
was introduced at an earlier period, and its use 
soon became general. Foreign dry goods had 
become extensively patronized, and were to 
great extent supplanting home manufactures ; 
yet all domestic production was not suddenly 
abandoned, but continued in limited extent 
long afterwards. Superfluity in dress, and 
in the mode of living were on the increase, 
many of the earlier way-marks were becoming 
gradually removed, and the lines between rich 
and poor became much more strongly marked 
than formerly. In the community, an increas- 
ing indulgence in sectarian prejudice was 
observable. Political agitations were intense, 



124 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

and the era of general good feeling and har- 
monious action seemed to be passing away, as 
the current of unsettlement bore onward, and 
finally culminated in the Revolutionary War. 

J. B. although a member of the society of 
Friends, yet in harmony with a custom pre- 
vailing in England in those days, kept his 
pack of hounds, and hunting horses, and in- 
dulged freely in fox hunting, a practice which he 
continued until quite late in life. It is also 
probable that the destructive propensities of 
these cunning animals, stimulated him, as well 
as others, to energetic efforts for their extermi- 
nation, under the plausible pretence of their 
being a public nuisance ; but fox hunting which 
had been tolerated in the earlier existence of the 
colony, at length became very annojdng to some 
of the cotemporaries of J. B., and they appealed 
to the law for an abatement of the nuisance. In 
this controversy Mcholas Wain, then a young- 
man, and who afterwards became a prominent 
and highly gifted minister of the gospel 
among Friends, was employed as counsel by 
the fox hunters, and by his power of oratory 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 125 

and persuasive eloquence, gained the cause (of 
doubtful utility) for them. The other side of 
the case was represented by an eminent mem- 
ber of the legal profession — by the man who 
had trained and initiated Nicholas into the 
knowledge, the mysteries and the responsibili- 
ties of the practice of law, and w^ho upon 
w^itnessing the keen sallies of wit, and the 
irresistible force of the current of the ingenious 
arguments of this youthful aspirant for legal 
distinction, suddenly exclaimed, '' have I raised 
up a young eagle to tear my eyes out ; " ''no, "was 
the energetic response, '' only to open them." 

One night two thieves entered the dwelling 
of J. B., but being disturbed in their operations, 
fled ; the hounds were unkenneled and started 
upon their tracks, and the robbers were over- 
taken and Captured. This night's enterprise 
proved to be the last opportunity for the grat- 
ification of their thieving propensities, for 
having robbed a store a few nights previous, 
they w^ere for that offence tried, condemned, 



126 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

and executed. This item is introduced as a 
specimen of the severity of the laws in those 
days. 

In the early days of the Republic, while the 
war was still progressing, the Continental Con- 
gress issued paper money, and although it 
never was redeemed, yet the penalty for refusing 
its acceptance in payment of debts was death. 
At this time a Friend residing near Newtown 
admitted that he had hay for sale, at a named 
])rice ; an American officer told the Friend that 
he would take the hay, and offered Continental 
money in payment, which the Friend refused ; 
lie was immediately arrested, and after sum- 
mary proceedings was condemned to suffer 
death ; and it was not until after much earnest 
and persevering importunity from his wife and 
others, that a reluctant amelioration of the 
sentence was granted. 

In the days of the Revolutionary War there 
was a family of six sons bearing the name of 
Doan, residing within the limits of Bucks 
Quarterly Meeting ; they were members of the 
religious society of Friends, and it is said of 



OF FRIENDS IX BUCKS COUNTY. 127 

them, that they were desirous of holding them- 
selves ah)of from the controversy existing 
between the Colonies and the Mother Country ; 
but, as in this position they possessed the 
confidence of neither party, and were very un- 
charitably treated by some of the zealous 
supporters of the new government; instead of 
being willing to suffer for righteousness sake, 
their feelings became irritated, and also alien- 
ated from the American cause, and they attached 
themselves to British interests with abundance 
of zeal, and apparently with much cordiality. 
They became a terror in the community ; for- 
feiting the sympathy of the Friends, with whom 
they had w^alked in fellowship, and bidding 
defiance to law, they depredated indiscriminately 
upon American property, selling much of the 
spoils to members of the British Army. 
Possessing fleet horses, they were skillful in 
evading capture, but several of them eventually 
met violent deaths. There is a locality in the 
neighborhood of Fallsington, then within the 
recesses of a dense wilderness swamp called 
''Tory Spring;" this hiding place has been 



128 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

represented as having been much resorted to 
by some of the brothers. 

From about that period of time when the 
controlling administration of the laws of Penn- 
sylvania passed from the hands of Friends, 
until the close of the Revolutionary War, their 
loyalty to the waning Colonial government, 
and to that which afterwards arose upon its 
ruins, was seriously questioned ; and in many 
instances, a most uncharitable and unchristian 
spirit was manifested toward them, notwith- 
standing their well known peaceable principles. 
And although there was no member of Bucks 
Quarterly Meeting among the exiles to Vir- 
ginia, yet the same spirit of intolerance was 
extended to many of the former locality. 
Whether this purifying and refining process 
in the furnace of affliction did, or did not, 
operate against the best welfare of faithful 
Friends of Bucks County, may be an unsolved 
question, but it is clearly manifest that they 
liad much to be thankful for notwithstanding 
their tribulations ; the loss of political power, 
most likely, was no disadvantage to their 



OF FEIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 129 

spiritual condition, and taking into considera- 
tion the peculiar position which they occupied 
in the community, the extension of Divine favor 
was marked, and unmistakable ; of course they 
suffered many hardships and privations, but 
the preservation of life, the attainment of daily 
bread, the very general continued possession 
of their homes, and surrounding households, 
their supported Christian testimony against 
war, the valuable examples of their pious and 
circumspect lives ; for these and other favors 
Divinely extended in the hours of solemn need, 
through a most perilous and agitated period 
of time, there was cause for gratitude, and 
humble thanksgiving, and doubtless they that 
were worthy were mindful of it. 



130 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 



CHAPTER XI. 

Pein^nsbuey was the name bestowed upon 
William Penn's favorite American mansion 
and its near surroundings: the location was 
in Penn's Manor, near the Delaware River, 
and near the south-eastern extremity of Bucks 
County, Pennsylvania. It was a place which 
attracted much attention in its early history, 
and is yet a locality around which clusters 
much historic interest — religious, political, ju- 
dicial, social, domestic. The spacious mansion 
itself was a prodigy of the times, and the illus- 
trious family which occupied it the centre of 
great attraction. The founder of a new and 
untried system of government, there spent 
some of his happier hours, relaxing at times 
from the severe duties of his position, and in 
the enclosure of the family circle, partaking of 
the more quiet enjoyments of life; but these 
hours of recreation doubtless were mingled 
with seasons of thoughtful, and sometimes 
painful, solicitude, under the weight of the 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 131 

great trust that had been committed to his 
care, and the heavy responsibilities he had 
accepted and assumed; yet he pursued his 
way amid the sunshine and the clouds which 
sometimes surrounded him, with unwavering- 
trust in the triumph of his humane, liberal, 
just and Christian policy. The infant govern- 
ment of Pennsylvania received no inconsider- 
able portion of its nursing at Pennsbury, 

Penn's Manor, as originally laid out by 
Markham, contained 8431 acres — the land 
partly alluvial, and principally covered with 
forest. The boundaries were somewhat irreg- 
ular, but they bordered for several miles on 
the River Delaw^are, and extended several 
miles inland ; they also bordered on several 
tracts of land taken up by earlier settlers 
under the jurisdiction of the Governor of New 
York, and never belonged to the Penn Estate. 
About three miles intervene in a northerly 
direction between Bristol, Penna., and the 
nearest point in the original Manor boundary. 

That portion of the domain lying between 
Governor's Creek and Welcome Creek, con- 



132 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

taining the site of the original mansion and its 
surrounding improvements, has been repre- 
sented, and with a degree of plausibility, as a 
noble island, an ancient Indian royalty, with 
affluents from the river bending several times 
around it, chosen by chieftains nurtured in 
aboriginal warfare, as a position possessing 
many advantages for defense against their en- 
emies, and while in their possession bearing 
the name of Sepassin. There is a portion of 
Penn's Manor formerly occupied by beds of 
creeks and affluents from and to the river, 
which is now cultivated land, and this circum- 
stance may in a degree account for the changed 
appearance of the surface and surroundings. 
Pennsbury is not now upon an island. 

Upon the chosen situation, the agents of 
William Penn commenced building a habita- 
tion suitable for the governor of a great pro- 
vince, even before his first arrival in the coun- 
try. It was erected in 1682-3, and with the 
improvements, some of which were perhaps 
added at a later date, costs £5000, which was 
estimated in those days as a large sum of 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 133 

money. The mansion was sixty feet in length, 
forty in breadth, and two stories high, built of 
bricks, and covered with tiles. There was a 
large reservoir for water on the top of the house, 
constructed of lead, and to the leakage from it 
was partly ascribed the premature decay of the 
building. It has also been said that much of 
the lead was pillaged at the time of the Revo- 
lutionary War, for the purpose of moulding 
bullets. Judging from relics found upon the 
premises, at least some of the window sash 
was likewise of lead. The out-houses — includ- 
ing a kitchen and larder, a wash-house, a 
house for brewing and baking, and a stable 
for twelve horses — were all buildings one and 
a half stories high, and are said to have been 
so disposed as to produce an eifect agreeable 
and picturesque. The large wooden brew- 
house was more secluded: after this historic 
building, which has attracted so much curios- 
ity and been visited by so many people, was 
not needed or made use of for the special pur- 
pose of brewing, it was utilized as a farm-house 



134 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

for many successive years ; but it has now 
disappeared, except the foundations, which are 
still visible, 

The point has been somewhat controverted, 
but it is generally believed that the mansion 
faced the Delaware ; its appearance has been 
represented as stately, and that the upper 
windows commanded a magnificent view of 
the river and of the opposite shores of New 
Jersey. The entrance was by stone steps lead- 
ing to a handsome porch, on the oaken capitals 
of which were displayed carvings of vines and 
clusters of grapes, imported by the Proprietor 
from England. The porch opened into a spa- 
cious hall extending nearly the whole length 
of the house, which was used upon public oc- 
casions, for the meeting of the council, for the 
accommodation of strangers and distinguished 
guests, for collective intercourse with the In- 
dian tribes, and probably for courts and reli- 
gious meetings, which it is asserted were held 
at the mansion. On the first floor there was 
also a small hall, and three parlors, all wain- 
scotted with English oak and communicating 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 135 

by folding doors. From information obtained 
through the instrumentality of John Penn, the 
great hall is represented as containing, among 
other articles of furniture, one long table, a 
supply of pewter plates and dishes, and six 
vessels for holding water or beer. It is pro- 
bable that this hall was also occupied upon 
various public occasions for the festive enter- 
tainment of William Penn's numerous guests, 
among whom the Indians are said to have 
been the most frequent partakers of his hospi- 
tality. Information through the same channel, 
giving a descriptive account of the varied fur- 
niture distributed through the three parlors 
and little hall, described a great leather chair 
in one of the apartments : this was probably 
used by the Governor upon important public 
occasions. The same source of information 
describes the four chambers as being well 
supplied with beds, bedding, chairs, tables, 
etc. In one of them the bed curtains were of 
satin; in another, of camlet; in another, of 
striped linen. The chambers in the garret 
were furnished with four beds. We also 



136 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

gather from the same authority, that upon 
the broad walk or avenue lined and shaded 
with poplars, extending from the mansion to 
the river brink, and descending by a flight of 
stone steps from the upper to the lower terrace, 
on one occasion the tables were spread for the 
festive entertainment of a large number of In- 
dian guests ; and among the viands prepared 
were one hundred turkeys, beside venison and 
other meats. 

The mansion stood upon a gentle elevation 
surrounded on all sides by gardens, lawns, 
shrubberies, and flower beds to which the 
most beautiful wild flowers found in the 
country, native and procurable, were trans- 
planted. The Proprietor has been represented 
as being extremely fond of a suitable country 
house with extensive gardens, and that he 
spared neither care nor money in order to 
make Pennsbury prominently attractive as a 
residence. He imported skilful gardeners, 
both from England and from Scotland. The 
gardens themselves were a marvel in the 
colony for their extensiveness, for their beauty, 



OF FEIENDS IX BUCKS COUNTY. 137 

for their attractiveness of location, and for the 
skill manifested in their management ; various 
kinds of trees, shrubs, seeds and roots were 
imported from England ; among them walnuts 
and fruit trees. The adjacent woods were laid 
out in walks and drives at the time of the 
Governor's first visit to the country, and he 
afterward, in several of his letters, required 
the preservation of the trees. There were 
also more distant vistas, opening prospects 
down the Delaware, and upward tow^ard the 
falls. ' 

The Governor, both on his first and second 
visits to Pennsylvania, imported valuable 
horses. The family had a large traveling 
coach at its disposal, but owing to the fre- 
quent badness of the roads it was not very 
often called into service ; a calash was a more 
frequent accommodation. Hannah and Letitia, 
the wife and daughter of AVilliam Penn, rode 
in a sedan chair when they went a-shopping in 
the city, or visited their female friends in the 
neighborhood, and judging from the circum- 
stance that several side-saddles and pillions 



138 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

were found in the mansion after the family had 
left America, it is reasonable to suppose that 
the women to some extent practised horseback 
riding. The Grovernor himself frequently rode 
around the country on horseback, but he gene- 
rally traveled between Pennsbury and Phila- 
delphia in his barge, to which he was very 
partial, manifesting peculiar interest in it; it 
was of considerable dimensions, furnished with 
a mast and six oars. In a letter to his stew- 
ard, he says: " But above all dead things, my 
barge. I hope nobody uses it on any account, 
and that she is kept in a dry dock, or at least 
covered from the weather." 

Isaac Norris thus writes of the Proprietor's 
wife when the familv were about leaving the 
country : '^ His excellent wife, and she is be- 
loved by all ([ believe I may say in its fullest 
extent) : so is her leaving us heavy and of real 
sorrow to her friends ; she has carried under 
and through all with a wonderful evenness, 
humility and freedom ; her sweetness and 
goodness have become her character, and are 
indeed extraordinary. In short, we love her, 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 139 

and she deserves it. " Letitia, the daughter of 
William and Gulielma Penn, has been repre- 
sented as very interesting and attractive : the 
certificate setting forth membership and re- 
moval granted by her friends in a collective 
capacity, upon her return to England, por- 
trayed their estimation of her merits in lan- 
guage very appreciative. But it has been 
represented, that these two worthy females, 
Hannah and Letitia Penn, after the novelty of 
the wilderness had passed away, had no cor- 
dial love for the country of their adoption, and 
had more than once invited the Proprietor to 
take them back to their beloved England ; 
that they were in a flutter of delight at the 
prospect of leaving America ; and that they 
themselves, were perhaps the only persons in 
Pennsylvania who rejoiced at their departure. 
Isaac Xorris also writes: ''The Governor's 
wife and daughter are well; their little son, a 
lovely babe; his wife is a woman truly well 
beloved here, exemplary in her station, and of 
an excellent spirit, which adds lustre to her 
character, and has a great place in the hearts 



140 HISTORICAL SKETCHES 

of all people. " Deborah Logan mentions a 
tradition heard in her youth from an old 
woman in Bucks County, " who went, when 
she was a girl, with a basket containing a 
rural present to the Proprietor's mansion, and 
saw his Avife, a delicate, pretty woman, sitting 
beside the cradle of her infant, " The child 
which is here brought into notice was pro- 
bably the one, and the only one of William 
Penn's children born in America. 



OF FEIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 141 



CHAPTER XII. 

It has been said that William Penn died a 
slaveholder, but if so, it is manifest that it was 
unintentional ; although there is reason to be- 
lieve that slaves continued to be appendages 
to the estate at Pennsbury after he left Penn- 
sylvania for the last time, and even at the time 
of his decease in 1718, and for several years 
after ; yet, as he sets forth in a will which is 
still extant, made in 1701, containing this 
clause : '^ I give to my blacks their freedom, 
as is under my hand already, and to Did Sam 
100 acres, to be his children's after he and 
his wife are dead, " it is not likely that he 
changed his mind afterwards, but more pro- 
bable that those entrusted with his American 
affairs, were embarrassed in carrying out his 
benevolent intentions. The following is from 
a letter dated in 1721, from James Logan to 
Hannah Penn : 



142 HISTORICAL ACCOUNT 

" The Proprietor, in a will left with me at 
his departure hence, gave all his negroes their 
freedom, but this is entirely private : however 
there are very few left. 

''Sam died soon after your departure, and 
his brother James lately, Chevalier by a writ- 
ten order from his master, had his liberty 
several years ago ; so that there are none left 
but Sue, whom Letitia claims, or did claim, 
as given to her when she went to England. 
These things you can best discuss. 

" There are, besides, two old negroes, quite 
worn, that remained of three which I received 
eighteen years ago of E. Gribbs' Estate of New 
Castle County. " 

It may be that some of those slaves, advanc- 
ing as they were in age, were retained in an 
unchanged condition, for the humane purpose 
of supporting them out of the estate in their 
declining years. William Penn's last will 
makes no allusion to property in slaves. 

When it became known among the Indians 
that Onas, as they called the Proprietor, was 
about to leave the country, a large number of 



OF FKIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 143 

them flocked to Pennsbury, to renew their 
covenants, and to bid him farewell : many of 
them were sad under a fear and an impression 
that he would never return ; hovering around 
his promises of friendship, protection and jus- 
tice wath increasing tenacity, and anxious lest 
those who were left in trust of the administra- 
tion of his affairs in his absence might not 
prove satisfactory. This gathering together of 
the Indians at Pennsbury upon the eve of the 
Governor's absence from the province, was a 
memorable and important occasion ; they met 
in council, and for themselves and people, re- 
spectively, expressed their earnest solicitude 
that all their former covenants might remain 
inviolate, and agreed, and earnestly urged, 
that if any differences should arise amongst 
them, such might not be made the occasion 
of alienation and hostility between William 
Penn or his j)eople and the Indian chiefs or 
their people ; but that justice should be done 
under all circumstances, that all animosities 
on all sides might be forever prevented. 



144 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES 

We can scarcely sufficiently appreciate in 
this day the advantages which resulted from 
William Penn's pacific policy towards the In- 
dians, and his consequent influence over them. 
The mutual hatreds and jealousies between 
whites and Indians which prevailed in other 
colonies, and impeded their prosperity, were 
obviated here ; and the early settlers, while 
pressed with the cares and privations of pion- 
eer life, experienced not only their friendship, 
but their services. 

J. Richardson, of England, has left an in- 
teresting account of a visit which he made at 
Pennsbury in the year 1701 or 1702. The 
following are extracts from his memoranda : 

'' I was at William Penn's country house, 
called Pennsbury, in Pennsylvania, where I 
stayed two or three days, on one of which I 
was at a meeting and a marriage. Much of 
the other part of the time I spent in seeing to 
my satisfaction William Penn and many of 
the Indians, not the least of them, in council 
concerning their former covenants, now again 
revived upon William Penn's going away to 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 145 

England, all of which was done in much calm- 
ness of temper and in an amicable way. 

'' When they had ended the most weighty 
parts for which they (their councils) had been 
heldj William Penn gave them match coats 
and some other things, which the speaker ad- 
vised to be put into the hands of one of their 
Cossacks or kings, for he knew best how to 
order them. I observed, and also heard the 
same from others, that they did not speak two 
at a time, nor interfere in the least with each 
other in that way in their councils. Their eat- 
ing and drinking was also in much stillness. 

''William Penn said he understood they 
owned a Superior Power, and asked the inter- 
preter what their notion of God was in their 
own way. The interpreter showed by mark- 
ing several circles on the ground with his staff, 
until he reduced the last into a small circum- 
ference, and placed, as he said by way of re- 
presentation, the Great Man, as they called 
him, in the middle of the circle, so that he 
could see over all the other circles, which in- 
cluded all the earth. 



146 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

" They went out of the house into an open 
place not far from it to perform their worship, 
which was done thus : First they made a small 
fire, and the men without the women sat down 
abouD it in a ring, and whatsoever object they 
severally fixed their eyes on, I did not see 
them removed in all that part of their wor- 
ship, while they sang a very melodious hymn, 
which affected and tendered the hearts of 
many who were spectators. When they had 
thus done, they began to beat upon the 
ground with little sticks, or make some mo- 
tion with something in their hands, and 
pause a little, till one of the elder sort sets 
forth his hymn, followed by the company for 
a few minutes, and then a pause ; and the 
like was done by another, and so by a third, 
and followed by the company as at first ; 
which seemed exceedingly to affect them and 
others. Having done, they rose up and 
danced a little about the fire, and parted 
with some shouting like triumph or rejoic- 
ing." 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 147 

There is scope for though tfulne>s in tht? re- 
membrance that this interesting people has 
long since passed away from a large space of 
country which spreads round Pennsbury — 
a people so sincere in their devotions, so moral 
in their lives, so warm in their attachments, 
so unalterable in their friendships ; no linger- 
ing remnant remains to represent the race of 
their worthy fathers, or exibit the attainments 
in civil and religious progress of which it was 
doubtless susceptible. 

And as the personal presence of William 
Penn among the poor Indians was marked by 
many testimonials of affection on their part, 
and as their friendship was pure, it was deeply 
rooted and lasting, time and distance did not 
wear it out ; the memory thereof was precious 
to them, and they exhibited evidence of it long 
after William Penn had passed away. It ap- 
pears they had a veneration for Pennsbury on 
account of associations connected with it, and 
some tribes were wont to perform annual visits 
to the locality. These visits were continued 
until late in the last century, and perhaps 



148 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

were continued until a later period of time. 
An eye-witness, who had been a young girl 
residing with the family occupying the brew- 
house dwelling about the time to which refer- 
ence has been made, represented that among 
the annual visitors were some of great age; 
and at that period there yet remained some of 
the walnut trees that William Penn had 
planted, and these were objects to which they 
clung with howling and lamentation, appa- 
rently frantic with grief, yet with wild enthu- 
siastic fondness. Some of these aged children 
of the forest had knowledge of William Penn 
personally as well as from tradition, and there 
must have been something touching in these 
exhibitions of true-hearted affection for his 
memory, which still remained so fresh and 
lively, so long after his earthly pilgrimage 
had ended. 

The bursts of affection with which the poor 
Indians sometimes greeted their friend Wil- 
liam Penn were somewhat singular in exhi- 
bition, and, although doubtless annoying, per- 
haps were not altogether displeasing to his 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 149 



generous feelings. If tradition truly repre- 
sents, these warm-hearted creatures upon one 
occasion met him on the road in the neighbor- 
hood of Pennsbury riding in his coach, and 
from the impulse of the moment, drew him 
from it, and wrapped their blankets around 
him in token of affection ; and so impetuous 
was their zeal to manifest their friendship and 
attachment, that all danger from the fright of 
horses was unheeded, overlooked, or not com- 
prehended, and it was needful for the driver 
to lie them to trees for safety. 

The Grovernor of a great province sometimes 
condescended to the low estate of the simple- 
hearted and confiding Indians, partaking of 
their venison, their hominy, their roasted 
acorns, and other Indian dainties, joining in 
their athletic sports, and sometimes rivalling 
them in feats of agility ; with all of which they 
were immensely pleased. 

The Indians bore frequent testimony that 
William Penn had never deceived them, and 
unbounded was their confidence in his integri- 
ty : doubtless it was good policy in him to 



150 HISTOKICAL SKETCHES 

cultivate their friendship ; but apart from 
every temporal consideration, they possessed 
a large share of his sympathy, brotherly kind- 
ness and disinterested love. 

There is something truly pleasing in look- 
ing back to the beginnings and advance, the 
manifestations, comforts, and good fruits of the 
friendship which continued to subsist between 
William Penn and the Indians. Although he 
possessed the land which had descended to 
them from their fathers, and they were exiles 
from it, still that friendship remained unim- 
paired. Were we now to look abroad over 
the scattered remnants of our Indian popula- 
tion, how few examples of warm attachment, 
unwavering friendship, and bursts of affection 
would be manifested at the presence of those 
that have been instrumental in dispossessing 
them of their ancient inheritance, and how 
few would be the testimonials to the justice 
and generosity of these. 

A scanty remnant of one or two of the old 
cherry trees, which it is said William Penn 



OF FRIENDS IN BUCKS COUNTY. 151 

planted with his own hands, is still obtainable 
as relics. A portion of the brick pavement 
which constituted the cellar floor of the man- 
sion, is now an unaltered portion of the cellar 
floor of the attractive modern farm-house built 
partly upon the foundations of its ancient but 
more pretentious predecessor. The occupants 
of the present dwelling are supplied with ex- 
cellent water from a well near the door, from 
the same well which, yielding the like pure 
and refreshing water, contributed to the neces- 
sities and comforts of the Penn family in days 
which have long since passed away. The wor- 
thy farmer who now owns and occupies the 
premises, bears the name of William Penn 
Crozier. 

The ancient improvements and the forests 
have nearly all disappeared from Pennsbury 
and its adjacent surroundings, but the site of 
the mansion is still there, and the river pur- 
sues its wonted course as when the Propri- 
etor of a great province, and the introducer 
of a new, and to the world novel, system of 



152 HISTOEICAL SKETCHES 

government, launched his favorite barge upon 
its waves or tranquil waters, and perhaps 
contemplating the rapidly approaching period 
when the progress of civilization would change 
the sylvan scene before him, and his benev- 
olent exertions to implant the blessings of 
civil and religious liberty be crowned with 
success. 



